Hit And Can't Run
by OnlyHim
Summary: Steve meets Danny in a very unusual way... he runs him over. Despite how rude Danny is being, Steve just can't seem to be able to let him go.
1. Chapter 1

_Un-beta'd. If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in comments and I'll correct them._

* * *

Steve had just finished working on his Marquis – his favorite pastime while he was on leave – and was getting ready to take it for a spin. He loved that car. Not only he loved its classic feel, but it reminded him of his father, and at this moment nothing could be more special.

Steve had left Hawaii to join the Navy right after high school, and after that he hadn't had much time with the man. He'd always loved and admired his father immensely, and now he regretted the fact that he hadn't spent more time with him. Death will do this to you. It makes you regret everything you should or shouldn't have done. However, Steve wasn't one to wallow, so he tried to do the best he could with what he's got. He worked on his dad's car, thinking that in a way he was honoring his memory.

The funeral had been two days prior. His father was a cop and had died in the line of duty. Robbery gone wrong. Steve took leave from the Navy to attend the funeral and his sister, Mary-Ann, had come from wherever she was living at that moment. She'd just left to go back to wherever, and Steve was still trying to decide what to do. He felt the need to be home now, on his island. He was considering extending his leave, maybe join the reserves, but he wasn't sure. He still had some time, so he was giving himself a chance to let things settle before he made a decision. He wasn't exactly good at that, always having to be in some kind of action, but for some reason now he needed the calm. He knew it wouldn't last long, soon he'd need to find something exciting to do, but for now distracting himself working on his beloved car was enough.

Steve got inside the car and turned the key in the ignition. He listened to the engine roaring and felt its vibration fill his body. He smiled. He loved that feeling and it reminded him of all the Saturdays when he was a kid, when he'd helped his father work on the car and then his dad would take him for a drive around the city. His father was always so happy, a huge smile on his face, enjoying every moment. Steve loved seeing him like that. He'd soon started having the same reaction, because his dad's emotions were contagious, because it made Steve feel close to him. And it still did. He could feel his father sitting next to him, giving him instructions on how to drive the temperamental car when he'd become old enough to drive.

And there he was, enjoying the moment, feeling the engine, the wind on his face coming from the open window. He made a turn and allowed himself to close his eyes for one brief second... and then he heard the scream. He opened his eyes and saw a man crossing the street, walking with a cane, just about ten feet ahead of him. He slammed his foot on the brake which... wasn't working! Damn it! He hoped the man would have time to walk away, but he was moving very slowly – probably because of whatever injury he had that made him need the cane. Even when Steve swerved to the right it wasn't enough, and he hit the man with the left corner of the front bumper. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Steve got out of the car like a lightning, to find the poor guy lying on the ground. He crouched so he could talk to him, already getting his cell phone from his pocket.

"Oh, my god, are you okay?"

"No, you goof, of course I'm not okay. You just hit me with your car!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

"I know you didn't, you had your stupid eyes closed, asshole."

"I know, I was just... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Could you just stop apologizing and do something useful, like help me up?"

"Yeah, sure. Here."

Steve started getting up, offering the man his hand. The man took it and Steve started pulling, but the man winced and slouched back down.

"What, what's wrong?"

"My knee. I can't get up."

Steve moved to check the man's knee, but he was stopped in his tracks.

"Don't touch me! Haven't you done enough damage already?"

"I was just going to check your knee to see what happened."

"I know what happened. You probably tore my ACL again, the one that was still recovering from surgery."

"Oh, fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Would you just shut the hell up already? Being sorry isn't helping. What would help is if you used that incredible little device that's in your hand that has the marvelous ability of making phone calls and called me a damn ambulance!"

Steve looked down at the phone that he'd forgotten was in his hand.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He dialed 911, still looking apprehensively at the man lying on the ground. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid, and now he could have seriously hurt him. At least he wasn't going too fast, the damage could've been a lot worse. "Oh, hello. Uh, I hit a man with my car and he needs assistance. Steve McGarrett. He might have torn his ACL. No, he seems fine aside from that. Yes, he's conscious. Uh, we're in front of 564, Papai Street. Thank you." Steve turned to the man again. "They should be here in a few minutes."

The man just groaned, not opening his eyes which had been closed since Steve started the call. Steve desperately tried to think of something to say.

"Uh... What's your name?"

The man opened one eye and turned to Steve. "What do you care?"

"I care. And... I'm worried about you."

The man just huffed.

"Look, despite what you might think, I didn't hit you on purpose."

"Could've fooled me."

"Are you always this nice to people?"

"Only the ones who try to kill me."

"I didn't... Look, I was just trying to make conversation, okay? You must be in pain and I was trying to distract you until the ambulance gets here."

"Don't bother." The man closed his eyes again, effectively ignoring Steve's existence.

Steve sighed. He felt so bad for what had happened, and the man wasn't letting him help at all. He wished there was something, anything he could do to make things just a little bit better for the man, but the way the man was acting it seemed like anything he could do would actually make things worse. He was lost in his thoughts of self-recrimination when he heard the sirens of the ambulance approaching. He heard the man let out a shaky breath of relief, confirming what Steve thought, that he was in terrible pain and was trying to act tough.

The ambulance turned the corner, followed right after by a police car. They were probably there to get Steve's information in case the man decided to press charges. Steve thought he should be concerned with that possibility, considering that he already had a few criminal offenses on his record – he'd been young and stupid once and not exactly prone to following the law – and that could possibly affect his status in the military. The thing is, he just couldn't bring himself to care. He just wanted the man to be okay.

The paramedics started working on the man, and one of the police officers came to talk to Steve. The other one went to talk to the man, and Steve was half answering the officer's question and half paying careful attention to the conversation between the other men. He was desperately trying to get some actual information on the man he had hurt. He was able to at least catch the man's name – Danny Williams – and which hospital they were taking him to. He sighed in relief and turned his complete attention to the officer talking to him, now knowing that he could go to the hospital and keep trying to make things up to the man.

After Steve finished talking to the officer, he called for a tow truck to get his car – he couldn't drive it back home with the brakes busted. He waited about half an hour, extremely anxious, wanting to get to the hospital as soon as possible. When he finally got home, he took a quick shower, got in his truck and rushed to the hospital.

Of course, once Steve got there, no one would tell him anything since he wasn't family. He never was one to play by the rules, though, and he was nothing if not persevering. He talked to every single nurse in the reception, plus a few he could find from other floors, and when even that didn't work, he found a way to sneak into a nurse station unseen and found a chart of all the patients in the hospital. The man – uh, Danny – was in surgery and that's all he could find out. He went to the floor where the OR's were, in hopes that he could intercept Danny when he came out and find out where he was being taken. Even if that meant sneaking around and following him.

It was about three hours later when Steve saw the blond man being transported in a gurney. He quickly got up and followed the man and nurses from a distance. He watched them get inside the elevator and waited to see on which floor it would stop, hoping that it wasn't for someone else to get in. When he saw it stopping on the seventh floor, he rushed the five floors up the stairs, hoping that they would still be in view when he got there.

Thanks to his SEAL training and his very long legs, he got there in no time, having taken three steps at a time, barely panting. He saw the gurney turning around a corner and followed, watching them get into a room. He waited until the coast was clear and went to the room, rushing inside so no one would see him. Danny was still out of it, but otherwise he seemed fine. No tubes or any other concern-inducing machines surrounding him, just the IV. Steve sat on the chair close to the bed and prepared himself to wait some more.

About an hour later, the man started to stir. Steve straightened up, anxious to see how Danny was doing. He slowly started to open his eyes.

"Hey," Steve said softly.

Danny turned to look at him, staring for a while, apparently waiting for his vision to clear. When it did, his expression of confusion quickly change to one of anger.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" The man's tone was filled with unrestrained rage, even if his voice was still rough from sleep.

"I just... I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm great. Now leave."

Steve didn't move an inch.

"What, are you deaf? I said leave!"

"I noticed no one came to see you. Not the whole time you were in surgery, or since you came to the room."

"I wouldn't expect anyone to. Now get the fuck out."

Steve looked down, feeling uncomfortable and out of place. He spoke quietly. "I don't want to leave you alone."

"You're kidding me, right? What makes you think I'd want your company?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know, I just... I feel bad, and I want to make it up to you somehow."

"You want to make it up to me? Leave me the hell alone. I don't ever want to see you again."

Steve briefly wondered why that comment had hurt. He didn't know what he'd been expecting. Of course Danny wouldn't want to see him. He just... he was concerned. He wanted to make sure the other man would be okay. He didn't stop to think that maybe he was just a little over-concerned considering this was a complete stranger. He didn't want to leave, but the man was making it clear that his presence was just making it worse, so he figured he'd just have to let it go. He started to get up, upset, but not seeing an option.

"Wait." The man raised a hand to stop Steve's movements. "You said no one came the whole time I was in surgery and in the room? That means _you_ were here the whole time?"

The unrestrained rage in the man's voice got even harsher and darker. Steve wondered where the man was finding so much energy after all he'd been through. Maybe wanting to talk to the man had been a mistake. Steve couldn't help but think that he didn't regret that he'd at least tried.

"Well, yeah... I was waiting for you to wake up so I could talk to you."

"So you were watching me sleep?" The amount of indignation in Danny's voice was impressive. "Me, a complete stranger, whom you ran over earlier today, by the way."

Oops. He hadn't thought of that. Maybe starting to regret it a little bit.

"Do you have any idea how incredibly creepy that is?"

"Uh, well, to be honest, I hadn't really stopped to think about it."

"I've talked to you for all of fifteen minutes and I can already tell that that's a regular occurrence with you."

"You know, I'm starting to think that all this rudeness is completely uncalled for." Good. When you realize you've made an even bigger mistake, start antagonizing the other person to deviate their attention. That was always a nice plan.

"You ran me over." The man emphasized every word.

"It was an accident, and I apologized. You, however, are actively choosing to be rude."

"Give me one good reason why I should be nice to you."

"Because I'm being nice to you. I stayed over to make sure you were okay. Something that apparently no one else you know bothered to do."

"As we've established, that was not nice, that was creepy. And what's it to you if people come to visit me or not?"

"You know what? I don't care. If you're like this all the time, I can completely empathize with no one visiting."

"Yet, here you are when I've asked you repeatedly to leave."

"Well, I'm leaving. Enjoy your lonely stay."

"Thank you. I will."

Steve was almost at the door when the other man called.

"Wait, were you trying to be nice to me to try to convince me not to press charges? Because I gotta tell you, there's no way that would ever work."

"What?" Steve turned sharply to look at the man. "No! I was genuinely concerned, but I can understand how it would be hard for you to grasp the sentiment. Which I now realize was completely misguided." Steve was getting angry now.

"Good. Because I fully intend to do it."

"So you've said."

"I thought you were leaving."

"I am."

xXxXx

Steve got back home and he was pissed. All he'd wanted to do was help, try to somehow make it up to the man, but he wasn't having it. Who did he think he was anyway? Who doesn't accept an apology? It's not like Steve had done any of that on purpose. There was a small part of Steve's brain that was trying to tell him that Danny had every right to be angry at him. After all, Steve had made him go back into surgery and that couldn't have been pleasant. Steve didn't even know how far along the other man had been in his recovery from the other surgery and how much he'd been set back now. He chose to ignore the part that was telling him all that, because it was wrong and stupid – he ignored the part that said that thinking like this was childish, too. Danny had been rude when Steve had been nothing but nice. And you know what? Screw him. If the man didn't want to accept his apology, there was nothing Steve could do. Let him press his charges, let him be angry and bitter and suffer through a long and lonely recovery. He probably deserved it. The part of Steve's brain that was telling him that he didn't actually believe any of that and he was in fact still very worried about the other man was a little louder this time. Steve ignored it and went to bed.

Steve woke up the next day after having a great night's sleep. That is, of course, if he ignored the whole time he'd spent awake worrying about the man alone in the hospital, and the part when he finally fell asleep and dreamed about Danny all covered in blood after being run over by him. No, it was fine. Everything was fine. He'd go about his day as usual and forget all about the man who as still in the hospital because of him. Because he'd been an irresponsible jerk who'd hurt the man for no reason other than being an irresponsible jerk.

He should be used to that, seeing people get hurt. God knows he'd seen a lot worse. But there was always a reason for that. They were fighting for something. The poor man had just been crossing the street. And okay, the man hadn't been seriously hurt and he'd be fine in the end – oh, god, please let him be okay. What if the damage to his knee was permanent now? - but he knew pain, he knew what recovery from any injury was like and the man would go through all that again because of him. _Stop it, Steve. Accidents happen and there's nothing you can do about it. The man doesn't want you there, there's nothing you can do to help. Just let it go._

So he went back to working on his car. He had to fix the brake and the dent on the front bumper.

The busted brake that had caused the accident.

The dented bumper that proved that he'd hurt someone. An innocent someone.

He tried very hard to push all those thoughts aside and went to work. He'd been trained to focus under the most stressful situations and this was nothing compared to everything he'd been through. So he'd work, and he'd forget, and he'd move on.

Except he couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Danny one single second. God dammit, what was it about him? Why did Steve care so much? Didn't matter. Steve knew he wouldn't get anything done anyway, so he might as well just try again. So he'd shower, get dressed, grab a few malasadas to try and sweeten Mr. Grumpitty Grump and he'd head off to the hospital.

xXxXx

"Please tell me the nurses are giving me too much pain medication and I'm hallucinating and you're not actually here."

Steve smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to enjoy the man's brash attitude.

"Here, I brought you gifts."

Steve dropped the bag on the table beside the bed. He couldn't help but notice the other man's eyes following his movements, and he was sure that he was seeing piqued interest in Danny's eyes, even though he knew the other man was trying very hard to hide it. Steve waited a while, wanting to see how long the man would wait before he asked. The other man's eyes went from the bag to Steve and then back to the bag, but then he put on an obviously fake nonchalant expression.

"Okay, gift delivered. You can leave now."

Steve sat comfortably down on the chair next to the bed, signaling that he had no intention whatsoever of leaving.

"Don't you want to know what it is?" Steve tried to sound casual, but he was having difficulty suppressing a smile. He was enjoying watching the other man struggle.

The other man looked surreptitiously back to the bag – at least Steve thought he was trying to be surreptitious, it was actually pretty obvious to him – and bit his lip. Danny seemed to catch himself and quickly composed his nonchalant expression again.

"Considering it came from you, I'm pretty sure I don't care," Danny said with what seemed to be a lot of effort.

"Are you sure? I'd think that you'd appreciate a retrieve from the hospital food."

The other man's eyes widened a little and he glanced at the bag again. He still didn't budge and kept his air of disinterest, though. God, this man was stubborn.

Steve stared at the man for a while, then reached for the bag. "Fine. Maybe you just don't like malasadas. I can give them to a nurse or something."

Steve watched the man jump towards the bag and quickly hold himself back. Steve suppressed another smile. This was so much fun he almost felt bad. Almost. Steve dangled the bag in front of the other man. "Unless you've changed your mind?"

Steve kept his stare on the other man, provoking and barely containing how much he was enjoying himself. He saw the other man glare at him, but he also could have sworn he'd licked his lips while doing it.

"Maybe I'll just leave these here." Steve placed the bag back on the table and he could see the man perk up. But Steve sat back down on the chair and the other man sagged. Steve could see the struggle going on behind Danny's eyes, as if he was conflicted between asking Steve to leave and losing the treat or caving and losing face.

After what seemed like forever, Danny sighed and reached for the bag. This time Steve didn't hide a smirk.

Danny started eating his malasadas as if he hadn't eaten in days. It seemed as if he'd forgotten Steve was there, but a while later he turned back to him.

"Don't you have anything better to do then watch me stuff my face with pastries?"

"Not really, no." Steve smiled.

"Other people to run over, maybe?"

"Haha, very funny."

"What, you unemployed or something? It'd make sense, actually, considering you were driving that piece of junk."

"First of all, that car is a classic. And I'd take serious offense to that comment if I didn't think that I'm still on your bad side – deserving it, I should add."

"I'm glad you know that," the other man replied, keeping his stare on Steve, clearly still waiting for an answer. Steve considered teasing the man for being interested in him, but he was very pleased that Danny was showing a tiny bit of interest, so he bit his tongue. That didn't mean he was exactly ready to be forthcoming about the reason he had all this free time.

"No, I'm not unemployed," Steve said after some time, hoping he could leave it at that.

"Vacation, then? 'Cause I gotta tell you, being here seems like an awful waste of time. Unless you really don't have anywhere better to be, and if that's the case, then this is just real sad. And kind of pathetic."

"No visitors, yet?" Steve tried deflecting, hoping the man would forget his question.

"No, and as I've told you – not that I should have – I wouldn't expect any."

"And that's not sad? Or pathetic?"

"It might be if it meant that there's no one who cares enough to be here. Given that is not the case, then no, it's neither."

"So why isn't anyone here, if they care so much about you?"

The man looked at Steve, as if considering options. "I'll tell you if you tell me why _you're_ here."

Steve was a little stunned for a while, not expecting that question. He still wasn't too happy about the idea of talking about what happened, but at the same time he didn't want to miss this opportunity to get to know the other man better. Maybe he could just say a little bit, and the man would be satisfied.

"I'm on leave from the Navy."

"So it is a vacation. And we're back to you being sad and pathetic."

Steve sighed. He should've known he wouldn't get away that easy.

"A bereavement leave."

The man looked genuinely contrite. Steve was surprised to see that expression on his face. He didn't think the man was capable of any kind of empathy.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Danny looked sheepish and embarrassed. "I didn't... I shouldn't have pushed."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

A very uncomfortable silence settled around them, and Steve started wondering if he shouldn't have left well enough alone and just let the man be.

"I'm from New Jersey." The other man finally broke the silence. "My family is all there, and I thought it was silly for any of them to make the trip all the way here just to see me when I'm perfectly fine. My mom wouldn't have it, she was practically buying the plane ticket, but I managed to convince her. With my dad's help. And my brother's. And my sisters'. I promised I'd go over there as soon as I recovered, so she agreed."

"Why did you move here?"

"My daughter. I'm recently divorced, and my lovely ex-wife decided to move here to be with her wonderful new husband. I didn't see much of a choice, as being away from my little girl would never be an option for me. And before you ask why _she_ isn't here, my aforementioned ex-wife is traveling with her, visiting her family in England. She didn't think it would be worth it to come here just so my daughter could visit me. I wasn't particularly happy about that, but she said I could have extra time with my daughter when they get back, so I figured I won in the end. I'd rather be with her when I can actually be with her."

"How long have you been here?"

"Six months. And to answer your next question, no I haven't made many friends. People at work don't really like me – aside from my partner – and I haven't been out much. I'm just focused on my daughter, the reason I'm on this godforsaken, pineapple infested hell-hole. She's what makes it all worth it, and I'm not really worrying about anything else."

"Why don't people like you at work?"

"Uh, for some reason I still don't understand, law enforcement here aren't particularly fond of ha'oles, as they love to call me every chance they get."

"You a cop?"

"Detective."

"And what about-"

"My partner is on the mainland, following up on a case. We're friends, and he tends to be very nice to me, but we're not that close. I'd never expect him to cut his trip short to come see me. Not that he didn't offer, but I know he was just being polite. I let him off the hook."

Steve was very impressed at how the man knew every question his was going to ask. Even more impressed that he'd actually told him that much about himself. He very much appreciated it.

"So, no, I don't think it's sad or pathetic that no one is here. I have enough people that matter in my life and they're not here for very good reasons. Mostly because I told them not to come." Danny breathed deeply. It was amazing how much he was able to say in what seemed like one breath. "Now, I hope I sort of made it up to you for being pushy... and kind of a jerk."

"I told you it was okay. There was really no reason for me to be so secretive about it. But you have been a lot of a jerk, since the moment I met you, but I'll let it slide, because I know you're in pain." Steve smiled. "Although I suspect that's normal behavior for you, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Who's being a jerk now?" the other man said, but there was no bite this time, he just smiled, surprising Steve. He didn't expect to be able to get Danny to finally relax, as much as he wanted to. He was also surprised by the warm feeling inside of him that smile had brought.

"Anyway," Steve sighed, completely clueless as to why he'd decided that he wanted to open up to this man after all. "My father passed away about a week ago. He was a cop, it was a robbery gone wrong. He was just shopping, but the guy saw the badge and freaked out."

"Oh, my God. John McGarrett. Your father is John McGarrett."

"That's right." Steve already expected Danny to make the connection.

"He was very loved in the force. His death hit a lot of people pretty hard. Seemed like a nice man, too. He was pretty much the only one who bothered to greet me when we passed each other in hallways. Even knew me by name."

Steve smiled, a sad, wistful smile. He knew what a great man his dad was, and that just made him feel worse about not having spent more time with him. Well, nothing he could do about it now. "So, that's why I'm here. I asked for an extension of my leave. Felt the need to be home for a while. I'll probably go back soon, but for now there's not much to do aside from working on my dad's car. And visiting people I run over." Steve joked.

Danny smiled again at that. Then he looked slightly shocked all of a sudden, as if something had just occurred to him. "God, it's your dad's car. I really am a jerk."

Steve laughed softly. "It's okay. You really should feel worse about everything else you said to me, not that. That was an honest mistake, but you definitely don't know how to accept an apology."

"Hey, it's not like you were apologizing for stepping on my toe. I think I'm entitled to make you earn it."

"Yeah, sure." Steve laughed again.

They sat in silence, but it was a lot less uncomfortable now. Steve was glad he'd been able to talk to the man. He'd been enjoying teasing him before, but he found out that he enjoyed his company as well. He wasn't particularly surprised that more than an hour had passed.

"Hey, you never told me your name." Steve asked, only now realizing that they'd never properly introduced themselves.

"It's Danny. Danny Williams."

"Steve McGarrett." Steve offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Danny."

Danny looked at Steve's hand with some suspicion, but he accepted it and they shook. "It's nice to meet you, too, although I'd much prefer if it'd happened under different circumstances."

"I have to agree." Steve let go of Danny's hand, smile never leaving his face. "So," he added a short while later. "Have I? Earned your forgiveness?"

"Hm, I don't know. Maybe keep bringing me malasadas and we can talk." There was a small glint in Danny's eyes, and Steve counted this day as a huge win.

xXxXx

Steve kept coming back to visit Danny every day for the rest of his stay at the hospital. He'd stay for hours and they would talk about pretty much anything. No, strike that, they'd banter. Apparently they were incapable of having a normal conversation without trying to rile the other up. On top of that, Danny seemed to be a huge fan of rants, and almost anything could set him off and he would lecture for what seemed like hours, in a never-ending supply of arguments, complaints and what he judged to be the only possible correct opinions on any given subject. Steve often asked himself if he shouldn't be terribly annoyed by this man by now and if he should have already been gone on his merry way, now that Danny seemed to have finally accepted his apology.

The thing was, Steve was enjoying himself immensely. He never thought it could be possible, given the circumstances that had brought him home, but whenever he was with Danny, he found himself feeling excited, livened up... happy. He hadn't felt like that in so long, he barely knew what to do with it. He still felt bad about the way he'd met Danny, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel blessed. He'd given up on so much, the Navy leaving him hollow and jaded. He was still proud of the work he did for his country, but he knew he paid a high price. And he'd thought some things were over for him, for good. He thought he wouldn't ever soften again. He'd been such a sweet kid, everybody always told him that, but there was no place for that in the Navy. If he were to allow his sensitivity to show, he'd make mistakes and get himself killed, or worse, someone on his team.

But Danny... Danny was just this wonderful person, a beautiful mix of strength and tenderness. Steve had heard many stories of so many things he'd been through working in the force, how he'd always been the source of support for his family, the one everyone counted on. But then he'd talk about his daughter, Grace, and his whole demeanor changed. His voice would go soft, he'd get this glimmer, this fondness in his eyes. Steve had also heard many stories where Danny had showed how incredibly kind he was. How he'd always put the people he loved above himself, no matter what. How he took care of everyone, never because he felt obligated to, but because there just was no other option for him, he wouldn't even consider any other possibility. The most amazing thing was, Steve was sure that Danny had no idea that he was showing all that. He was so humble, he was just innocently telling Steve random stories about random things, but all those beautiful qualities kept shining through, as if they were so intrinsic to his person that he wouldn't be able to hide them even if he wanted to.

All of that was slowly changing Steve. It seemed impossible that this could happen in so little time, but Steve found himself feeling again... caring again. Not being so scared of all his emotions, of showing what he'd learned to consider as weaknesses. He found himself talking about the memories of his father, the death of his mother, when he'd been so young, just a teenager, how he'd felt cheated that something so stupid, a drunk driver, could have taken someone so important from him. He talked about how much he missed his sister, how he loved her even if she was a total mess most of the time.

Problem was, every day when Steve got home in the evening, he remembered that the time he spent with Danny in the hospital wasn't his real life. That he'd have to go back to the service sooner or later, and that everything he was exposing would have to be hidden again. And every day he felt worse about it. How much he'd be losing if he just forgot this huge part of who he was again. He didn't want to lose that. He'd already lost so much in his life, practically everything, if he were honest, now he couldn't bear the thought of losing himself again. Moreover, if he were honest again, he couldn't bear the thought of losing Danny and everything he'd come to mean to him. He spent night after night thinking about all of it, and it didn't take long for him to realize – even if it'd come as quite a shock – that being a SEAL wasn't enough anymore. Not that he could ever _not_ be a SEAL, it's just that he wanted more. He wanted to find a way to be both. To still be the fighter, trained to endure any kind of situation and deal with any kind of problem, execute every op requested of him – because he could never lose that, that was how he was useful, that was how he served, how he was helpful – but also be himself, someone who could feel, enjoy simple things, basically... live. Because SEALs survived, but they forwent living to guarantee that others could do it. There was a part of him that wondered if it was selfish, to want that for himself, but spending all that time with Danny, watching how he led his own life, with so much honesty and openness, made him think that maybe he deserved some of that honesty, too. And honestly, he wanted to be happy. It was about time.

xXxXx

"I'm going into the reserves."

It was two days later, and Steve had finally made his decision. He just blurted this out, coming out of nowhere, because he just had to tell Danny and see what he thought. When had Danny's opinion become so important to him? It was a stupid question. It'd been about five minutes after he met him. That's just how special Danny was.

Danny had been dozing off, but as soon as Steve uttered those words, his eyes sprung open and he turned sharply to look at Steve. "What?"

"I've just been thinking about it, you know? Ever since my dad died, I felt this need to be here. I didn't really question it, but I should have realized that it meant something had changed. I was never one to stay quiet for too long, but suddenly... it was if I was finally allowing myself to have some time off. I thought I'd want to go back soon, _need_ to go back, but it just... hasn't happened."

"But... Are you sure? Maybe you just need more time."

"I've thought of that, but... I can't stop thinking about it, and nothing's changing. It's just... the life I had doesn't seem like enough anymore." Steve stopped and considered how much he actually wanted to tell Danny. How much he _could_ tell him. As it had been almost from the beginning, he found that there wasn't really a choice. "You've changed me, Danny. I had forgotten so much about myself, but you... you brought it all back. I don't want to lose it all again. I mean, I know it's only been a week, and it probably sounds really stupid but... you've made me better. And I... I just need more now."

Danny stared at him, looking dumbfounded, speechless. Steve didn't think it was possible. He worried for a second, wondering if maybe he shouldn't have been so open. But then again, that was the whole point, wasn't it? To allow himself to do stuff like that. He decided to just carry on talking and hoped that Danny would find his voice back soon.

"One thing that was bothering me, though, is that I didn't want to let go of who I was either. Being in the Navy meant so much to me, it's such a huge part of who I am, I don't think I'd be able to leave it all behind. I was kind of struggling to find a middle ground and then..."

Danny was still quiet, but at least he was responsive again, and he looked at Steve with an expression that clearly said that he wanted him to keep going.

"I got a call from the governor. She wants to create this task-force, to deal with special cases with full immunity and means – her words. She asked me to run it. It kinda seemed like the perfect alternative. My training would still be useful, but I'd be out of that whole no-room-for-feelings military stuff. I could actually have a life."

"Wow," Danny finally spoke, to Steve's great relief. "That sounds great, babe. I mean, I had no idea all this was going on in your head, but this sounds like a good solution. Although I have to say it worries me to think what kind of mayhem you'd manage to create with this whole full-immunity-and-means thing." Danny teased. "Seriously, though, I'm happy for you. "

"Good. Because I want you to come with me."

"What?" The stunned look was back on Danny's face, and it seemed like he'd mostly lost his voice again.

"I want you to be my partner." Steve tried to sound confident, even if he was terrified that Danny would say no. He just kept going before Danny had a chance to reply. "Think about it, it'd be perfect. You'd be doing something you're great at, but with a lot more power and leeway. Plus, you'd be around people who actually like you." Steve gave Danny his most charming smile, trying his best to convince him.

"Somehow I feel like that last part was more insulting than flattering."

"I'm serious, Danny. I don't think I can do this without you. I need you with me, to keep me grounded, to keep me open. I need you to make sure I don't create too much mayhem." Steve winked, trying to lighten what he was saying, but he knew that if Danny looked carefully he'd be able to see what Steve really meant in his eyes. That he didn't need Danny to do anything, he just needed Danny, period.

"Steve, we'd drive each other nuts. We'd fight about everything." Danny was protesting, but Steve thought he could hear something in his voice, something that told him that Danny had half agreed already. That Danny had seen it, and that maybe he felt the same.

"No, we wouldn't. We'd be great together." Steve's voice had gone soft, because that's what Danny did to him. He made him caring, he made him gentle. Steve loved it. "And you know it."

Danny looked like he wanted to protest some more, but eventually deflated. He just shook his head, looking at Steve with fond exasperation. "Fine. But you better keep bringing me malasadas in the morning."

Steve laughed with relief. "Will do."


	2. Chapter 2

Steve went in without knocking, as he was prone to do these days. Hell, he'd been doing it since they'd left the hospital. At first it was because Danny was still having a hard time walking, so he'd leave the door open when he knew Steve was coming. After a while Danny gave up and just gave Steve a key. Now he was moving with a lot more ease, but Steve still did it. Of course Danny complained about it, quite often in fact, but Steve didn't care. For one, he enjoyed provoking Danny as much as possible, and two, he liked the feeling of having free access to Danny's life. Granted, that feeling was probably more in his head than reality, but he liked it anyway.

Steve went straight into the kitchen to leave the bags of groceries he'd brought with him. Even if Danny was walking now, it was still hard to walk long distances and standing up for too long, so Steve had gotten into the habit of running little errands for him. He greeted Danny on the way and started putting everything away.

"Hey, babe," Danny said from the couch where he was slouched at the moment, leg propped on a makeshift coffee table. "I thought you were only coming later."

"The talk with the governor was shorter than I was expecting and I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought I'd come here. Besides, I need your help." Steve answered from the kitchen, which was basically only ten feet away from the living room/bedroom where Danny slept and stayed all day. Steve wished Danny was living in a better place, and he hoped the increase in salary once the task force started working would help him with that.

"With what? What did she want?"

"She wanted to give me a list of names and files of people she thinks could work with us. And I want you to help me choose them." Steve handed Danny a glass of juice – he still couldn't drink because of all the medication he was taking – and sat beside him on the couch, after arranging the cushion that was supporting Danny's knee. He had a bunch of files in his hands.

"Thanks," Danny said as he took the drink from Steve's hands. "How many are there?"

"About twenty, but she mentioned a few that have been specifically recommended."

"Who are they?"

"First one on the list is Chin Ho Kelly. He was my dad's partner for ten years. I know my dad liked him a lot, and he has a lot of commendations from HPD. The governor suspects that the job has become a little trivial for him, that he has more potential than that."

"Sounds good. Are you going to talk to him?"

" _We_ are going to talk to him. I just wanted to know if you'd rather he come here or if you feel well enough to venture going outside to meet him somewhere else."

"Babe, I don't have to be with you. I can give you my opinion, but you're the leader, you should be conducting the interviews."

"Danny, I may have been named leader, but that's just on paper. You are my partner, and as far as I'm concerned, we're completely equals in this. We'll both decide who comes into the team, and only if we are in complete agreement."

"Steve..."

"No, Danny, you're not arguing with me on this. That's the only way I want this to go."

"Huh, I thought I just heard someone say that we were supposed to be equals and agree on everything."

"Fine. On this particular instance, I'm playing the 'I'm the leader' card and you have to do exactly what I say. How about that?" Steve displayed a smug smile. There were few things in life he loved as much as winning an argument with Danny.

"Asshole," Danny muttered, but he was smiling.

"But you love me anyway," Steve said playfully.

Danny seemed to be uncomfortable all of a sudden, avoiding Steve's eyes and looking a little flushed.

"Fine, just call him and set an appointment. We could go to a coffee shop. As long as you can drive me there and I can be sitting the whole time I'll be fine. Who else?"

"Lou Grover. Just transferred from Chicago. He's SWAT, but I understand he wants a change. Something about a bad experience in the past."

"And why did the governor recommend him?"

"He was the leader of his team back in Chicago. Exceptional success rate and she thinks he could complement our set of skills which I agree with. What do you think?"

"Makes sense. Gotta talk to him about this past thing, but the general idea sounds good."

"Good, we'll call him, too. The last one the governor mentioned is coincidentally a friend of mine. Catherine Rollins, Naval Intelligence. Even though we're both from the same area, she's better than me at the Intelligence thing, and the governor thinks that it would be good to have more people with military background."

"By better than you do you mean she's capable of sitting still for more than five minutes, therefore she's capable of actually finishing a thought?"

"Haha, very funny. But yeah, that's exactly what I meant." Steve smiled and winked at Danny, who looked even more flushed now.

"Okay, this one you know personally. What do you think?"

"She's professional, great at her job, driven. Could be a really good asset. I heard she was considering going into the reserves, too, but I don't know if she actually wants to do it."

"We'll ask her. So I suppose now we look through the files and see if there's anyone else?"

"Exactly. Are you up to it or are you too tired? We could do this another time."

"Oh, god no. I haven't done a single thing the entire day, I could do with being a little useful for a change. Give me those." Danny grabbed half the files from where they were sitting on Steve's lap. His fingers brushed Steve's leg, leaving a trail of warmth and goosebumps.

A few hours passed before they finished going through the files. They'd ordered food, eaten the food and were now wrapping up, having exchanged the files so that both of them had seen them all.

"Anyone you like?" Steve asked when they were done.

"Lori Weston. We could use a profiler and she has an impressive background and record."

"I liked her, too. What about Jenna Kaye?"

"I don't know. She sounds good on paper, but something's off. My gut tells me that she's bad news."

"Alright, forget about her then."

"You're really gonna make a decision based on my gut?" Danny turned to look at Steve, incredulity written all over his face.

"I trust your gut. If you think something's wrong, then it's probably true. No reason to waste time talking to her."

"Wow, I'm impressed."

"You shouldn't be. I asked you to be my partner for a reason. I may never have seen you working, but you've told me a lot about it. I know what a great detective you are and I know that far too many times you solved a case based on your feelings. I trust you 100% and everything you think or feel matters to me." Steve tried to sound as earnest as possible. For some reason it was very important to him that Danny knew all that. It was all true. Steve had never felt the same security he felt around Danny with anyone else. He knew he could count on him and trust him. That's what made him so essential to this whole thing. Well, at least that was one of the reasons.

Danny didn't say anything, but Steve could tell he was still surprised.

"I say we stop at that," Steve said since Danny was still quiet. "Let's talk to those four and see what happens. If we don't like any of them, we come back to the files and see who else could fit."

"Sounds good to me. You wanna call'em?"

"It's late. I'll do that first thing tomorrow. I'll try to set the interviews on two different days so you don't have to stay too much time out."

"Thanks, but you don't have to worry so much. I'll be fine."

"You have to start slow, Danny. No point over-stressing your knee if there's no need for it."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Steve heard the sarcasm in Danny's voice and he was already expecting the rib that he knew was coming. "Being exposed on the street, something could happen. I don't know, someone might run me over or something. Although it's hard to imagine who would be so much of a jerk to run over a poor, defenseless man walking with a cane."

"Oh, dear lord, you're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"No, not really. During this miserable moment of my life, when I have so few sources of entertainment, making you feel guilty is how I find enjoyment."

"Oh, yeah? Now who's the jerk?"

Steve went home right after they finished looking at the files. He knew it was late and Danny needed his rest, but every time he left Danny's apartment it was with a pang of regret. Sometimes he tried telling himself it was because he still felt guilty about the accident, but he knew that wasn't the real reason. The fact is that he missed Danny deeply when he wasn't around. They'd grown so close and this filled a hole that had been left inside Steve when Freddie had died. Since he'd gotten Freddie killed. He tried not to think too much about it. There had been too many losses and dwelling on the one that had been his fault just hurt too much. It made him want to crawl inside a hole and never leave. Crawl into the same unidentified hole Freddie had been left to rot in somewhere in Korea. Being with Danny helped so much, he was like a balm being spread over all Steve's wounds, making him feel as if there was something worth staying alive for. Something worth healing for. He knew Freddie would've liked Danny. In fact, he would've been overjoyed that Steve had someone in his life who always told him like it was, who never held back. Freddie had always thought that Steve was a smug son of a bitch, and he'd love the fact that now Danny never let him get away with it.

Regardless of how much time he spent with Danny, though, every night Steve was alone again. Alone with his terrible thoughts. Alone in that empty house, filled with ghosts. When he'd first gotten back to Hawaii those things hadn't bothered him as much, maybe he'd been in too much shock, maybe it had just been easier to repress it all, but now, when he was alone in the dark... There were the nightmares, there were the shadows. And every night he couldn't wait for it to be morning again. Couldn't wait to see Danny again. He showered and went to bed, trying his hardest to sleep. Tomorrow he'd set the interviews that would allow he and Danny to start the next step of their lives, then he'd drive Danny to his PT session and he'd enjoy his few daily hours of glorious reprieve.

"Just five more, Danny. You can do it."

"Okay, the one with a fully working knee doesn't get to give his opinion, alright?"

"I'm just trying to help, Danny."

"How about you don't? It's your fault I'm doing this in the first place. If it hadn't been for you I'd have been done with this a week ago."

Danny was always cranky during his PT sessions, but Steve never minded. He was always there with him. He made sure he was free to drive him there and back and he insisted on staying with him the entire time. It was not only because he felt he owed it to Danny, but also because cranky Danny was a lot better than no Danny at all, so he just used the excuse of keeping him company to have _Danny's_ company.

"Yes, Daniel, I'm aware of the fact that I'm the one responsible for the entirety of your suffering. I'm the one that took away all the rainbow and sunshine from your life."

"I'm glad you know that," Danny grunted, but Steve could see a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth. Mission accomplished.

"Mr. Williams, if you could move over here, we'll do your last set of the day." The physiotherapist pointed towards a set of equipment on the other corner of the room.

Danny limped to the other side. Steve knew that the sessions made the pain worse and Danny was getting tired of the whole ordeal. It was almost over, but Danny was right, the accident had set him back two months in his recovery and Steve knew that was a pain, both literally and figuratively. He tried not to feel too bad, because he knew feeling guilty only made matters worse. But he knew it would take a long while until he felt like he was done making it up to Danny.

They left the high quality government funded Recovery Center, which Danny already had access to thanks to Steve pulling a few strings and went to Steve's to have some lunch. It always took a bit of coaxing, but Steve thought it was worth the effort because he was sure that Danny rested better when he was there, with more space and comfort. Steve cooked them lunch and afterward left Danny to take a nap in his guest room.

They had two hours to kill before meeting with Chin Ho and then Lou Grover. The others they'd talk to the next day. Steve knew Danny would sleep the whole time and he needed to, PT always took a lot out of him. That left Steve alone and slightly bored. He decided to go over the files again, just to see if there was anyone interesting they might have missed, just to have back-ups in case any of the first choices failed to fulfill their needs. He couldn't help but think while he was working how much better he felt just to have Danny in the house, even if they weren't near each other or talking or anything. An idea started forming in his head and it was brilliant and terrible at the same time. On the one hand, it would solve both their problems, but it could also be all kinds of bad, considering how Steve felt about Danny. Having him around all the time could be very near maddening. Still, it was something to think about. He'd sleep on it and maybe sometime in the future he could mention it to Danny.

"Do you want to move in with me?"

"What?" Danny turned at once to look at Steve, so many expressions on his face that it was hard to discern each one of them. Steve knew that most of all there was complete and utter shock, with a slight hint of 'are you fucking insane?'.

So, yeah, so much for sleeping on it and giving it some time. Steve truly, honestly hadn't intended to say that, not yet, not in the car, not while driving to their first interview, but it had left his mouth before he could think. It was just that... God, it just felt so good to have Danny around. He felt as if that was the only time when he could breathe, feel some relief. He knew his intense attraction to the other man could affect how this all turned out, but in the end wanting Danny with him had nothing to do with that. Okay, that was a bit of a lie, but it wasn't the reason why he'd had the idea. He was just tired of feeling so much despair every night when he was on his own and he knew that Danny's living conditions were less than adequate. It could benefit the both of them. He would just have to keep his feelings to himself. He could do that. He knew he could. Yeah.

"Steve?"

Steve turned to look at Danny and realized that he hadn't said anything in quite some time and Danny was still looking at him expectantly.

"I just... It's... I have an extra bedroom, you know that. And the place you live... You know how awful it is. What's the problem? Lots of people have roommates, why can't we?"

"Don't you think we're a little old to be roommates?"

"I wasn't aware there was an age limit to that."

"Yes, my friend, there is. This is something you do during college, or right after when you don't have any money and no one is hiring you. But once you get a decent job and become capable of taking care of yourself, then it's just plain and simply weird. Not to say inappropriate."

"It's not weird. And how can it be inappropriate? It's just two single friends keeping each other company."

"Exactly! You're making it sound like you want us to become friends with benefits."

"What? No!" Not that it would be such a bad idea. No, stop it. That wasn't how this was supposed to go. At all. "That's absolutely not what I meant." Steve hoped Danny wouldn't notice how his face was getting all hot and he was sure a very bright shade of red. "I just thought..."

"What, Steven? What insane, completely out of touch with reality thought were you having this time?"

"First of all, that is very unfair. I don't have insane thoughts like that all the time."

"Oh, so you do admit that this idea in particular is insane?"

"No, I didn't- God, why do you have to be like that? I give a perfectly decent suggestion and you go and turn it into something absurd."

"Decent suggestion? Which part of 'let's live together' is a decent suggestion?"

"All of it. I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it. It would be beneficial for the both of us."

"Oh, yeah? How's that beneficial to you? Tell me, Steven, 'cause I'd love to know."

"I..." Damn it, he hadn't planned on going into that. He didn't want Danny to know everything that went through his head when he was alone, he didn't want Danny to know how fucked up he was.

"You what? What would you gain from that?"

Steve started saying something but stopped. He let out a huff of air bordering on desperate. "Never mind, okay? Just let it go."

"No, I will not let it go. It's clearly important enough for it to make you want to destroy any semblance of personal space there still is between us and I want to know what it is."

"How is you living with me destroying our personal space?"

"Steve, you don't even bother to knock when you're going into _my_ apartment. How do you think it's going to be like if we're living under the same roof?"

"I'm perfectly capable of respecting-"

"No, I don't believe you are. Besides- Hey, don't change the subject!"

"I wasn't..."

"I know damn well you were. Now go, tell me what this is about."

"Danny..."

Danny sighed, his eyes and voice softening. "Steve... If you think we're close enough that we could live together, don't you think it should be okay for you to tell me whatever it is that's bothering you? I thought we were friends."

"We are, Danny, that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

Steve was getting increasingly mad that Danny just wouldn't let it go, but then he started thinking how this whole thing had started in the first place. How it had been Danny who'd helped him start to get better, open himself up again. Why was he closing himself off so much now? He took a deep breath and just went for it.

"It's just... I don't like being alone there. That was my family's home, and now it's just me. It... It feels like there's ghosts everywhere." Steve chanced a glance at Danny, who had nothing but understanding in his eyes. That made him feel a lot more comfortable and like talking about things didn't have to be so bad after all. Once again he found himself thinking how lucky he was to have this man in his life. "Besides..." He still hesitated. He wasn't sure he could say any of that out loud, not even to Danny.

"What, babe?" Danny reached over and placed his hand on top of Steve's on the steering wheel. Steve's whole body filled with warmth and he couldn't remember ever feeling so safe. Just like that, one touch, and Danny could make him feel like it would all be okay. Talking about things was okay and most of all, Steve would be okay.

"It's just, being in combat... Bad things happen, all the time. And when I'm on my own... It's hard not to think about it all."

Danny squeezed Steve's hand and let it go. Steve wished he could've held it there forever.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, I'll think about it. One of us has to be sensible here, but I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

"Sure, babe." They exchanged soft smiles and didn't talk about that again.

Turns out both interviews went very well. Both Danny and Steve liked the two men very much, and thought they'd work well together. Chin Ho and Grover were also excited, both more than willing to try something new.

Steve and Chin had reminisced a little about their memories of high school, what with both of them having been football players and Steve crashing all of Chin's records. Lou had also talked about why he'd left Chicago, showing no problem in opening up to them, which Steve thought was an excellent sign. There had been a hostage situation that had ended badly, a father and a child, ending with the father killing the child and himself. Lou had known the child personally and he felt the loss maybe more than he should have, as well as feeling responsible. But he'd been cleared by IAB and everyone agreed that it hadn't been his fault in any way. The only reason he'd decided to leave Chicago was because he thought he needed a change to help him deal with what had happened. It's never easy to lose a kid on the job and Lou wanted a fresh start. Steve could most definitely sympathize with that.

Chin had also mentioned his cousin, Kono Kalakaua, who was about to graduate from the academy. He thought the kid was very promising and could use this opportunity. Steve agreed to talk to her, and after meeting her he thought that Chin might be right. He decided to get her on the team for a trial period, to see how she'd handle herself. The interviews with the other two women had also gone well, Catherine just needing that final push to make her decision about going into the reserves, too.

So the task force was formed and they'd start their activities the next week, or if a case turned up. Which happened the next day, giving them a taste of what their lives were going to be like from now on: exciting, high on adrenaline and dangerous as fuck, all the while doing important work, that would truly help make the island safer. They all couldn't be happier.


	3. Chapter 3

"God, I can't believe I'm finally getting out of the office." The almost desperate relief was clear in Danny's voice.

The task force had been active for two weeks. They'd decided to name it 5-0, after Danny found a couple of old home videos at Steve's, of when he was Kukui High's quarterback. Steve said he didn't even know those videos were there, having no idea his dad had been to the games, much less taped them. Danny had asked why a quarterback would have the number 50, and Steve had explained that it wasn't 50, it was 5-0, after Hawaii, the fiftieth state. His dad used to call them that, because they weren't native Hawaiian, so they'd feel like they belonged. Danny immediately liked the idea, eternally feeling like an outsider himself. They'd decided that's what the team should be, a space for all of them, who were looking for a place to belong, to find themselves.

Until now Danny had only been allowed desk work. He helped, gave his input, did research when necessary, but he had to stay at headquarters the whole time, because it was the only place they could guarantee he would be comfortable and not straining his knee. Now the doctor had finally cleared him to participate more actively, even if he still couldn't join in the more intense activities. At least he could accompany Steve when he went to crime scenes and interviewed witnesses. Talking to suspects still wasn't allowed considering that was something that usually ended with the team running like maniacs chasing said suspects who apparently didn't understand the concept of 'Five-0, don't move!' and ran at he first sight of any of them.

"I'm happy for you, buddy." Steve clapped his hand on Danny's back showing his support. If his touch lingered for a little longer than necessary and ended with a small rub of Danny's back, well, that's just the way it was. He couldn't help himself. "I know you were going a little crazy cooped up in there."

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Danny glared at Steve, but Steve more than knew by now that Danny didn't mean it. He just sighed, more to cover his fond smile than anything else.

They were walking to Danny's car, to check on a couple of witnesses, when Danny stopped short.

"Uh, Steven?"

"Yes, Daniel?" Steve stopped a few steps ahead and turned back to look at Danny.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What? What am I doing?"

Steve looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong. Danny pointed to the driver's side of the car were Steve was headed.

"You do know I've been cleared for driving? In fact, I drove all the way from my apartment this morning."

"Oh." Steve hadn't even noticed he was doing that. He'd gotten so used to driving Danny everywhere, doing things for him, taking care of him, that he hadn't realized he could stop now. Thing was, he didn't _want_ to stop. "Uh, has it ever occurred to you that maybe I just want to be nice and keep driving for you?"

"No, it has occurred to me that you're a control freak and you can't stand someone else being in command."

"That's so not true, Danny." Okay, maybe it was true regarding other things, but in this case he really just wanted to be nice.

"Oh, it isn't? So if I look in all my kitchen cupboards I won't find numerous things that you've bought because you think they're 'better', or I'd like them more? Or in my bathroom, you haven't replaced my toothbrush, toothpaste, razor and even my comb? The only things there that are still mine are the aftershave, the soap and the shampoo."

Because that combination made Danny's delicious smell and Steve would never, ever mess with that.

"But, all those things really _are_ better. I just want to improve your quality of life, Danny."

"Or, in other words, you want to control my life."

"You're being very unfair. I never have anything but your best interests at heart." And the fact was, it was true. Sure, he was controlling, he had no problem admitting that, but he also had an overwhelming need to make sure that Danny always had the best of everything, because he was amazing and he deserved it.

"Yeah, right." Danny brushed past Steve moving to open the driver's door.

"Okay, if you must know, I get car sick when I'm not driving." Steve had no idea why he'd said that when it wasn't in any way true.

Danny turned to look at him, an expression of utter astonishment on his face. "Oh, my god, that is such a lie. I cannot believe this can be so important to you that you feel the need to make up a flimsy excuse like that."

"I'm not lying." Steve tried to sound convincing. Now that he started it he'd have to stick to it. "Tell me, have you ever seen me on the passenger seat?"

"No, but that's only because of the circumstances of these pasts week. I couldn't drive, so you had to do it. That doesn't mean anything."

"It does. It means that I'm hurt that you'd accuse me of lying." Steve tried not to feel too guilty over saying that, but as always, deflection was the best technique when you are, in fact, doing something wrong.

Danny stared at him for a long time, still suspicious, but he eventually handed the keys to Steve and moved to the other side of the car.

"That doesn't mean I believe you." Danny pointed a finger at Steve's face as he passed by him. "I just don't want puke in my car on the off chance that it's actually true."

A huge grin opened up on Steve's face and he kept smiling all the way to the first witness's house.

The talk with the second witness had led them to a suspect, and they were headed back to HQ so Steve could drop Danny off. He'd called Lou and Chin to back him up after listening to a ten-minute lecture from Danny using words such as 'reckless', 'lunatic', 'death wish', 'menace to society', 'disregard for police procedure' and every possible synonym and expression that conveyed the same meaning. Steve was very impressed with the extent of Danny's vocabulary.

As predicted, going after the suspect had turned into a long chase, then an extensive and unyielding interrogation, dead ends, more suspects, then back to the first one and finally, finally, they caught a break and with the information they had the guy had no choice but confess.

When Steve at long last got back to his office, Danny was long gone. He'd had to leave to go to his PT session, so he'd only be able to help with the paper work the next day. That meant Steve was tired, hungry, grumpy, but most of all missing Danny immensely. On top of that, he felt guilty for not being with Danny during PT. He hated when he couldn't accompany him, because he knew that as much as Danny complained every single second they were there, he appreciated not being on his own.

He wondered if maybe it was too late to call Danny, but he figured that wanting to let him know that the case was closed justified it. Danny absolutely did not need to know that what Steve really wanted was to hear his voice and talk to him a little.

"Hey, babe," Danny answered on the second ring. "Still at the office? How're things?"

"We caught the guy. It turned out it was the first guy we talked to after all. He made us run around in circles for longer than I'd like to admit, but we nailed him. He's being processed now, and I sent everyone home. We'll work on the reports tomorrow."

"Good, I'm relieved that bastard won't be loose on the streets another day. How you doing? You sound tired."

"I am, very. It was a very, very long day."

"Wanna come over? I'm watching a Jets game I recorded. You can relax making fun of me, they're losing."

And just like that, Steve didn't feel tired or hungry, much less grumpy anymore.

"Sounds good. I'll just close everything and I'll head over."

"Okay, see you soon. Oh, bring beer, I'm all out."

"Will do."

Steve hung up, another grin spreading over his face. He couldn't remember another time in his life when he'd smiled as much as he did since he'd met Danny.

"Well, I hope you're happy."

It was the next morning, and Danny had just gotten to HQ and went straight to Steve's office, who'd gotten there only ten minutes before.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you. But why?"

"I'm being evicted."

"What? Why? And why the hell would that make me happy?"

"Apparently," Danny started, opening up a sheet of paper that had been folded in his hand and started reading from it. "They've found profound structural damage and the building has been condemned. They're demolishing it in a week, and everyone has to be out at least the day before. So I guess I'll have to move in with you after all. Hence me saying that I hope you're happy."

Steve thought that jumping up and down and dancing all around the office could be construed as somewhat inappropriate, so he settled for grinning like a lunatic instead. He noticed that Danny was fuming, and one step away from throttling someone, so he quickly hid his smile – well, as best he could – and tried to assuage the man.

"Danny, look, it's not so bad. That place was a shithole anyway. And at least you have a place to stay. You said that you'd consider living with me anyway, so what's the big deal in doing it now?"

"I'll tell you what the big deal is, Steven. I don't appreciate other people making my decisions for me. Yes, I said I was going to think about moving in with you, but I hadn't made up my mind yet. And now I'm being forced to do it. Against my will. Without my consent. Can you understand how that can be upsetting?"

"Wow, way to make a guy feel wanted." Steve joked, even though he was feeling a little rejected at the moment.

Danny glared at him and Steve got serious again.

"What if we just consider that this will be temporary?" Steve said that with a pang in his heart. He didn't want anything with Danny to be just temporary. "Maybe a trial run? So if it doesn't work out we'll know, you'll find another place, a good one this time, and it will all be okay."

"How am I even supposed to move? I can't carry any weight."

"We'll help you. I'm sure the team won't mind, you just buy us all pizza and beer afterwards and everyone will be happy. Besides, it's not like you have a whole lot of stuff anyway."

"I don't like this, Steve."

"I gathered as much. But it's your only option right now. I promise I'll be a really good roommate." Steve smiled his toothy grin, all the while thinking that he'd make this new living arrangement the best one possible. He'd make sure Danny would be more comfortable than he'd ever been in his entire life, he'd cook for him, and clean for him... Anything just so Danny'd never want to leave again.

"Fine," Danny huffed and then pointed a finger at Steve. "But it's temporary, alright? Don't you go getting your hopes up or anything."

"Dully noted." Steve grinned again, his hopes already sky high.

"And wipe that stupid smile off your face." Danny made wiping motions with his finger and turned around to go to his own office.

Next Saturday, the entire team went to Danny's old place, helping him pack and move out. It was true that there wasn't too much stuff, so they were all done – having taken everything to Steve's place and leaving it there for Danny to unpack – not long after lunch time. Steve had decided to grill some steaks instead of getting pizza – step one on his new self-assigned mission to take care of Danny and make him feel welcome and comfortable – so they all moved out to the lanai, enjoying their beers, the fresh air coming from the ocean and nice conversation.

They stayed long after sunset and Steve was pleased that his and Danny's team were getting along this well. They seemed to have had a lot of fun, no one being left out at any moment. Steve kept an eye on Danny as much as he could without being too obvious and he was happy to see that the man seemed relaxed and enjoying himself. Steve dared hope that all Danny's complaints were more out of habit, wanting to give Steve a hard time, than a reflection of the truth. When the whole team left it was close to ten and Danny started helping Steve clean up, collecting all the beer bottles.

"They seemed to have enjoyed themselves," Danny started, gathering the bottles close to the door so later they could put them in a box to throw away.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm glad they not only work well together, but also have fun together. I think we made good choices, Danny. They're a great team."

"Yep, I have to agree with you. For once."

"The only reason you never agree with me is because you have no sense of what's good and right."

"Sure, babe, keep telling yourself that." Danny let out a long sigh. "The only low point in all this is that I'm exhausted and I still have to unpack."

"Leave that for tomorrow, I'll help you. Just go rest now."

"I have to do something tonight, I don't even know where my toothbrush and clean sheets are."

"I packed an overnight bag for you. Everything you'll need until tomorrow is there."

They had moved inside by now, and Steve pointed at the bag he mentioned. Danny walked over and opened the bag to inspect its contents.

"You packed my stuff?" Danny had gone from sluggish and tired to utterly riled up and infuriated in 0.3 seconds. "Change of clothes, including my underwear? What's wrong with you?"

"Jeez, leave it to you to take a nice gesture and turn it into something bad. What's wrong with me helping you out and packing a bag for you?"

"Steven, I don't even know..." Danny huffed, exasperated. "Do you remember – well, probably not, considering you just pay attention to things that are convenient to you – but very early in our friendship I explained to you the difference between doing something nice and being incredibly creepy. Packing my personal stuff? Definitely creepy territory."

"What's the big deal? It's not like I hadn't been through your stuff before when you couldn't walk much and I was helping you out."

"That was different."

"How, Daniel? How was that different?"

"I didn't have a choice then."

"Oh, my god, do you have to be so dramatic? Just appreciate the fact that you don't have any work to do today, go to sleep and unpack the rest of your stuff tomorrow."

"You're lucky I'm too tired to complain." Danny glared at Steve and turned torwards the stairs to go up to his new room.

"Oh, this is you too tired to complain? What were you doing these past five minutes, then?"

"Calmly expressing my feelings in a completely reasonable manner." Danny was already climbing the stairs, almost all the way up. "And I still have to find my sheets befo-"

Danny stopped mid-sentence, a stunned look on his face. Steve had climbed the stairs behind him and he braced himself for the next argument.

"You made my bed? Is no personal space sacred to you?"

"Well, I... I just knew you'd be tired and I didn't want you to have to go through the trouble..."

"When did you even do this? You were with all of us the whole time."

"Before I left the house this morning."

"When you didn't even know they'd all stay here until late?"

"I knew you'd be tired anyway. Look, again, just trying to be nice, alright?" Steve threw up his hands in a placating manner.

"You have serious, serious problems, my friend."

Danny walked inside the room and for a second Steve wondered if his approach to this whole 'trying to make Danny comfortable' thing was all wrong, if maybe he was trying too hard. Then he caught Danny looking at the bed, a small smile on his face and something Steve could swear was fondness in his eyes. Danny shook his head, smile still in place, opened his bag and started getting everything he'd need out. Nope, not wrong at all. Steve smiled, feeling relieved, and left Danny to get ready to bed.

The next morning, Steve was humming in the kitchen while cooking their breakfast. He'd already gone swimming and showered, and he was glad Danny still hadn't woken up so he could surprise him. He heard footsteps approaching the kitchen and prepared himself for the rant he knew was coming, all the while feeling butterflies in his stomach just for thinking that it was Danny who was there. God, this was getting ridiculous. He felt like a stupid teenager with a crush, which was made even worse given the fact that he'd never felt like that even when he was a teenager. What was this man doing to him?

"You're making pancakes?"

Steve didn't even have to turn around to see the look of astonishment and disbelief on Danny's face. It was very easy to gauge what Danny was feeling just by his tone of voice. He turned around, a plate full of pancakes piled high in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He put the plate on the table, which was already set with two plates, maple syrup and butter, and handed the coffee to Danny, with a dash of milk and sugar, just how he knew he liked it. It was the third step on mission 'getting Danny to stay'.

Danny looked down at the cup, looking adorably stunned, all rumpled from sleep, puffy eyes and bed hair. Steve couldn't help the silly smile that crept over his face. He was quite surprised that the rant still hadn't come, but then again he knew that it took Danny some time to get fully functional in the morning. Many times when Steve had picked him up early to go to PT, Danny only started ranting properly when they got there.

Except this time, it felt weird. Danny just stared into his cup for a long time, then sat down taking a sip every now and then, barely touching his pancakes.

"Are you okay, Danny?"

"Hm?" Danny's head turned up, but he still had a lost look on his face. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"You don't look fine."

Danny stared at Steve for a while, but Steve wasn't sure if the other man was actually seeing him.

"Danny?"

Danny let out a sigh, a dejected one that tugged at Steve's heartstrings. He hated to see Danny in any kind of pain.

"It's just... I've been thinking, what has my life come to, you know? Like I lost control of it, and now it just doesn't make any sense anymore."

"What do you mean?" Steve sat down, his entire focus on Danny.

"I mean... I had to come all the way here, a place I hate. Ever since I got here, I've been living in less than optimum conditions, like you so often remind me. All to be close to my daughter, who I barely get to see. I just miss the way things were, you know?"

Steve nodded, but inside it just hurt. He hated the idea that Danny might still be in love with Rachel.

"I mean, I don't mean necessarily being with Rachel, I don't think that ever really worked, but having a family, having some sort of security. And having my daughter with me the whole time."

Danny sighed again, once more staring into his cup, shoulders sagging. Steve wanted to do something, anything to take that subdued air that seemed to have taken control of Danny's whole body, even as he felt relieved after what Danny had said about Rachel.

"And now I don't even have the shithole anymore. I have to depend on you. Nothing in my life is how it's supposed to be."

"You don't depend on me, Danny. We're just sharing space. And you know I already wanted you to live with me before, so what's wrong with that?"

Danny stared into Steve's eyes, something going on behind them that Steve couldn't quite read.

"What if this doesn't work out, Steve? What then?"

"Well, like I said before, we start looking for another place for you to live." _Please, no, God. Please let this work out._

Danny was still staring into Steve's eyes. Steve knew Danny wasn't telling him everything, there was something else that was troubling him, something big. Danny nodded, looking so sad that Steve just wanted to pull him into his arms and hold him there forever. Danny swallowed audibly.

"We?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm going to help you with everything you need. You know that."

Steve reached over, ready to place his hand over Danny's but stopped short, just a few inches away. He couldn't do this. He wanted Danny too much, and seeing him like this, so vulnerable... He just wanted to comfort him and hold him close and if he touched him now he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to keep from doing more, or saying something he shouldn't. He looked at their hands, so close, and then up at Danny who was staring at Steve's hand now, and Steve would kill to know what he was thinking. He moved his hand back and he thought he might have seen something akin to disappointment in Danny's eyes, but he was probably just imagining things. Wishful thinking.

Danny went back to his coffee and pancakes and finally started eating. By the time he was finished, he seemed a little more upbeat. He looked at Steve, a small smile spreading over his lips.

"This was actually really good, Steve, I'm impressed."

Steve was surprised, never expecting a compliment from Danny, it was just too out of character for him.

"I mean, I never would've guessed that you'd be capable of making anything other than macho, Neanderthal steaks. I always thought the Army had managed to take every bit of acceptable behavior expected of normal human beings out of you."

Ah, there it was. Other people might be offended by that comment, but Steve was just happy his Danny was back.

"It's the Navy, Danny," Steve started, trying not to smile too much. "And if you must know, this was my mother's recipe."

"Oh, right, I keep forgetting that your insanity is not genetic. The rest of the McGarrett family was actually of sound mind."

"You think you're really funny, but I gotta tell you, you couldn't be more wrong."

"Oh, no, I am funny, it's just that you don't have a sense of humor."

"How about you shut the hell up and go unpack your stuff? And if you'll consider putting aside your delicate sensibilities and allow me to get within an inch of it, I might even help you."

"Yeah, sure, change the subject. I know that's McGarrett speak for 'I know you're right but am too much of a jerk to admit it', Steve." Danny was already moving towards the pile of boxes in the living room.

This time Steve allowed the full grin to form on his face.

That night, Danny lay on his bed thinking. The first day living with Steve had been as hard as he thought it would be. He wasn't sure if he could take spending so much time with the man, being so close but not being allowed to actually be with him. That was the reason he hadn't agreed to move in before. He felt for Steve, worried about him, knowing that he didn't want to be alone, and he wanted to be there for him, but he'd been so scared. He was concerned about what might happen now that they were under the same roof. What if he said or did something stupid? What if at some point he had to leave because it all became too much for him to bear? What if it somehow changed how they were with each other?

He wasn't sure what had happened that morning. He'd just woken up in Steve's house, smelling pancakes and coffee and for one brief second he imagined what it would be like if that was his life. If he'd woken up in Steve's bed instead, if they had been living together as partners, not as roommates, if waking up to Steve cooking breakfast for them was a regular occurrence. Then he went down and saw Steve, so happy and carefree, humming to himself. Since that conversation, when Steve had asked him to move in, Danny couldn't stop thinking about what he'd said, that it was hard being there, how the house haunted him with its ghosts. But now he was there, seemingly enjoying himself, and Danny wondered if it could be possible that he had anything to do with that. He wished he did.

Danny tried to push all his forlorn feelings aside and start another session of bantering, but it died in his throat when he saw the cup of coffee, exactly how he liked it. Then it all came at once, like a wave taking over him. How lonely he felt, how much he wanted Steve to be his, to have Steve take care of him and be able to do the same thing for him forever. Steve just had to see through him, the bastard always did, and know something was wrong. Danny had to tell him something, the man was his friend and he deserved some honesty. When Steve reached over, Danny's heart skipped a beat. He wanted Steve to take his hand and never let go, but Steve had stopped midway, and Danny knew it meant that everything he wanted would never be more than a dream. He had to make so much of an effort not to reach for Steve's hand himself, wishing he could somehow make the other man change his mind.

For all of Danny's openness and ability to speak his mind about anything, there were some things he never expressed quite how he wanted to. For one, he'd never been able to tell Steve how much he appreciated everything the man had been doing for him. That he thought that Steve had made it up to him a long time ago, but he was still there, making sure he was okay, taken care of. He could never tell him how wonderful that made him feel, having someone so concerned with his well being. How safe and cared for he felt. He'd never been able to tell Steve how grateful he was for him offering Danny a spot in his task force – their task force, as Steve always insisted – for him being in his life. This amazing, strong, kind man, making his miserable life on this island a thousand times better.

Danny hoped that Steve was as good at reading him as he was at reading people at work. Because all he could do instead of being honest was rib, tease, mock and make fun of. That was how they rolled, but so many times he meant the exact opposite of what he was saying. At the same time he was always afraid Steve would figure out what he was trying to hide. He could never be completely honest, he could never tell Steve everything he felt, because if he did it would ruin everything. Steve was just a very good friend, a wonderful person and Danny had to thank the Heavens that the man had chosen him to be so close to. That would have to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny and Steve got home after another very, very long day. Home. It still surprised Danny, even after a month, that he'd started referring to Steve's place like this, and it hadn't taken long for him to start doing that. Fact was, he wanted nothing more than for that to be his home. Sure, it was still hard, having Steve always so close but not being able to be with him, but now he couldn't imagine not living with the other man anymore. He loved how now they had their little routines: the day one or the other had to do the cooking or the cleaning up, watching the news, games or movies whenever they got home early enough to do so, very often waking up to Steve making them breakfast. Even if sometimes he felt like he was going to suffocate with his need for the other man, he'd learned to enjoy what they had and make the most of it all. The thought of not being around Steve for ninety percent of their waking hours... No, not acceptable. Living with the almost constant longing was a whole lot better than not having that.

"It's your turn to cook." Steve was already climbing the stairs, probably to go have a shower.

"Aw, Steve, please, can't we order something?" Danny was bone-deep tired, and the thought of doing any more work hurt.

"No, we agreed we'd only do that twice a week and we've already had Chinese on Monday and yesterday."

"You know this isn't the Navy, right? It's okay to break some rules every now and then."

"Every now and then? You want to break these rules every time it's your turn to cook. Besides, isn't Grace coming this weekend? You promised her pizza."

"Yes, but it's going to be home-made pizza."

"You're not getting out of this, Danny. I'll even let you make pasta if it'll get you to stop whining."

"I'm not whining," Danny whined.

"Of course you aren't." Steve's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

With that, Steve was gone, considering the conversation finished. Danny sighed, a sound that came from deep within his soul. He didn't know how Steve did it. The man could withstand anything. He was never too tired to cook or clean or any other thing, no matter how terrible and exhausting work had been. Well, Danny supposed that years of extreme military training would do that to a person, but he did wish Steve would let it loose more often, and that's why whenever they had a day off he did his best to get them to relax. They spent most of their free time unwinding on the lanai, Steve swimming and Danny reading something, or just having a few beers and chatting.

If it was a Grace weekend, Danny always tried to include Steve in their activities. He insisted that he always go out with them, for shave ice, or the zoo or a playground. What surprised Danny the most is that in truth he never had to insist all that much. Steve seemed to enjoy spending time with both of them, and he was so great with Grace that every time they spent time together Danny fell a little bit more in love with the man. He never would've pegged Steve for someone who would know how to be around children, but he couldn't have been more wrong. It had been love at first sight. Grace adored the man, and very often Steve was almost as excited to see Grace as Danny was. Sometimes it all made it so easy to believe that they were one happy family. If only...

"God, you haven't even started yet," Steve said from the top of the stairs, having just finished his shower. "I swear, you're gonna dig a whole on the ground, you drag your feet so much."

"I'm not dragging my feet, Steven. If you took regular-length showers like normal people, I'd probably be done by the time you were finished."

"Three minutes is more than enough time to get clean. And to get something as simple as pasta started."

"Jesus, I just went to change first. Didn't want sauce to get on my shirt." Danny was moving around, getting everything he'd need. "If you're that anxious, you're more than welcome to do it yourself."

"No, I'd rather wait than let you off the hook."

"Figures."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The lengths you'll go through just so you can stay in control and reinforce all your stupid rules."

"They're not stupid, Danny. They're just supposed to make living together easier."

"Easier for who? Because it sure as hell ain't easier for me."

"I don't know what you're complaining about. It's not like you didn't have to do all those things when you were living by yourself."

"Yes, Steve, I did do all those things. But I also lived in a world where a little bit of leeway was acceptable. So if I got home after working for thirty-six hours straight, too tired to cook, I'd order food. Or maybe even just make a PB&J sandwich."

"You did not just say that."

"What's wrong with what I just said?"

"Uh, you're not a seven-year old? PB&J is not a meal, Danno."

And there it was. The nickname. 'Term of endearment', as Steve had once called it. The one that Danny pretended to hate but secretly cherished every time it was uttered from Steve's beautiful lips. At first he complained that it was something between he and Grace, but in truth he loved that Steve had immediately started using it, too. It was now something that only the two people he loved most in the world were allowed to say.

"Of course it is. It's got protein, fibers, minerals, vitamins. It's actually considered very healthy."

"By whom? Elmo?"

"Honestly, Steven, I'd expect more from you. I have a child. I did my research. I know what I'm talking about."

"That'd be a first."

"God, you're grumpy when you're hungry."

"As opposed to you, who's always a ray of sunshine."

"Okay, that's it. Go sit over there, before I force-feed you uncooked spaghetti." Danny pointed towards the living room.

Steve turned around, huffing. He sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, never seeing the enamoured expression Danny knew was all over his face.

The team had a few days of reprieve, that they spent dealing with paperwork and many times just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Wednesday the following week, they caught a major case. A prominent scientist, who'd been personal friends with the governor and who was due to speak at an international conference the following month was found murdered in an alley. The governor was on their asses in a matter of minutes, demanding a quick response and resolution of the case, both out of respect for her friend, but also because the incident would call attention from all over the world, fast.

Dr. Albert Falkwins was an authority on the subject of supernovas and he'd announced that he'd had a ground breaking discovery which he'd reveal at the conference. The scientific world was buzzing with excitement, many people attempting guesses at what it could all be about. Of course no one on the team understood squat about anything related to astronomy, but they did understand people and criminals, so they got to work as if it were any other case.

At first, all they knew was that the victim had been stabbed multiple times, but there'd been no sign of struggle, indicating that he probably knew his assailant. The back door of a bar opened to the alley where he'd been found, so their first move was to see if the establishment had any relation to his murder. Talking to the bartender, they found out that the victim had been inside talking to someone, but the guy left before the scientist. Dr. Falkwins had left the bar about twenty minutes later and not seen again until his body was found at five am, when the bartender had gone to the alley to dump the garbage.

They thought that the first thing should be to talk to the man who'd been talking to the victim but the bartender had been unable to identify him. He said the man had kept his back to him the whole time, and all he could say was that he was brunet and chubby. Not much help there. They spent the rest of the day tracking employees and patrons who had been in the bar the previous night, trying to see if anyone had noticed the man. After a long day of dead ends – people don't really pay attention to their surroundings when they're out drinking – Danny and Steve finally found a girl who'd seen that guy and had been able to describe him to a sketch artist. The only reason she remembered him was because he'd bumped into her on his way to his seat and spilled her drink all over her – and had been pretty rude about it, too, her words.

Everyone else was following their own leads – if you could call following leads talking to random people who were mostly too hungover to remember even the name of the bar they'd been in, much less recognize anyone – so Steve and Danny went back to HQ on their own to try to match the sketch they had to anyone in their database. On a hunch, Danny had suggested that they start looking into all local universities, considering they'd have pictures of all faculty members and the victim had been a professor himself. The hunch paid off, and it didn't take long for them to find a match to a professor at UH, Leland Ferris. He was a tenured professor at the University in Hilo and a researcher who worked at the observatories on Mauna Kea – as did Dr. Falkwins – and he often came to Oahu for guest lectures. After tracking the professor's movements, they found he'd flown back to the Big Island that morning and was due a lecture at UH in Hilo at seven pm. It was already past six and they ran out of HQ wanting to get there as fast as possible.

They charted a helicopter and Steve flew them both there. It took them a while to get there and rent a car – after arguing for a while over which car would be better, Steve winning the argument and renting a four by four, being then mocked endlessly by Danny for his need to get a 'macho' car – so when they got to the University the professor had already left, to continue his work at the observatories. He was known to stay there all night often, so they agreed it was worth it to go after him.

They started their climb to the top of the mountain, which they knew would be a long one. Steve was starting to get impatient, so he decided to forego the recommended stay at the visitor's center to help them adjust to the change in altitude. Danny complained, quite eloquently, but it was useless. Steve argued that it would be closed and if they just stayed in the car for a whole half hour they'd be too cold, besides there was no reason to waste that time considering that they wouldn't be at the top for long anyway. He also wasted no time rubbing in Danny's face how right he'd been in renting the four by four, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to make the trip at all, to which Danny just huffed, crossed his arms over his chest and turned to stare out the window.

When they got there it was almost eleven. They got out of the car and the first thing that Danny felt was the gust of icy wind. It was a hell of a lot colder than he thought it would be. He'd read that the temperatures were dramatically lower at the summit, but he'd refused to believe that anywhere in Hawaii temperatures could drop below forty degrees.

They peered through the glass doors of the observatory where Professor Ferris was supposed to be, but didn't see anything. The place seemed deserted. There was an intercom, and Steve pressed the button. Then pressed again. And again. To be honest, Danny was surprised that he'd kept his cool for so long, but now he was hammering his fist on the door, yelling '5-0, open up'. A man fitting the sketch they had appeared rushing from the end of the corridor, open white smock partially covering his work attire of button down shirt, tie and slacks.

"See? He wears a tie." Danny pointed at the man.

Steve used to mock Danny relentlessly over his wearing a tie, because no one in Hawaii did. Danny had always insisted that he wanted to look professional and that was the way detectives dressed everywhere. That is, until the time Steve saw him in a dress shirt without a tie and a huge smile opened up on his face. Danny had asked what that was about and all Steve said was 'You're not wearing a tie. It suits you'. Danny had never worn a tie again after that, professionalism be damned.

"We're on the top of a mountain, Danny, surrounded by snow. It doesn't count."

The man was opening the door at that moment, cutting off Danny's reply. Steve introduced themselves, telling they were there investigating a murder and asking if they could talk to him. The man seemed surprised, but quickly recovered and ushered them inside, leading them to a small office where they could talk.

The office was small, one desk and two chairs, one on each side of the desk. The man didn't sit, and Danny thought he appeared to be very edgy. They were there to talk to the guy as a witness, him being the last person to have talked to the victim before he died, but now the professor's behavior was making Danny suspicious. He glanced at Steve, who seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

Steve started saying that they were there investigating the murder of Dr. Falkwins and the man looked shocked at the news, that is if you ignored the fact that his reaction was obviously fake. Steve and Danny exchanged looks and positioned themselves to block the only way out of the office. At least they thought that was the case, but they were very wrong. The man noticed their movements and moved towards what had looked like the door to a closet, but was actually a back door. The professor got to the door and closed it behind him before either Danny or Steve could get to it, both of them being blocked by the desk and chair. When Steve got there he saw that the professor had locked it and he shouted to Danny to go after him through the other door which was... also locked.

They both cursed loudly and Steve punched the door in front of him.

"When the hell did he lock that door?" Steve grumbled in frustration.

Danny had moved around the desk. "I think it's an automatic lock. Look, there's a button here under his desk."

"Why would a professor need something like that?"

"Maybe he needs to keep his research protected. He probably stays locked inside here the whole time, when he's not using the telescopes."

"Well, then just press the damn button!"

"Oh, wow, that's a great idea, Steve. Why didn't I think of that?" Danny's levels of sarcasm increased the more frustrated he got. "I tried, you dope, it's stuck. He must have jammed it somehow."

Steve was assessing the structure of the door. He tried kicking it open, but he almost hurt himself. The door was a lot sturdier than it looked. Danny tried the other one, but the door didn't even budge, either.

"Can't you Super Seal our way out of here?"

Steve started examining the locks, looking for a way to manually open them, but the locks were impossible to break unless he had more appropriate equipment. He went back to the desk and started working on the button.

"If I can find a way to un-jam this..."

Steve had gone into 'Steve, the scientist guy' mode, and was fumbling around trying to find ways to get the button to work again. A full ten minutes went by, but he finally got the thing to work again. They ran outside, but the professor was long gone by then.

"Danny, get in the car. He can't go fast on the road here, we might be able to catch up with him."

"We could, if he hadn't slashed all four tires of the car."

"What?!"

"Yep. All gone."

"Shit!"

"We'll just have to call the team, have them track him down. The local police might be able to get him when he reaches the base of the mountain."

"That would be a great idea, except there's no cell reception here."

Danny felt himself start to panic.

"Uh, you mean not only the professor is going to get away, but we're also stuck here until someone finds us?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

"Fuck." Danny tried taking a deep breath. "Okay, no panicking. How long do you think before someone on the team realizes we're missing and comes here to get us?"

"I'd say very long, considering none of them knows where we are."

"What? You didn't tell anyone we were coming?"

"Did you _see_ me call anyone?"

"Damn it, Steve, you and your 'no need for back up ever' mentality. Someone should always know where we're going."

"I didn't see _you_ call anyone."

"That's your job."

"How's that my job? Aren't you the one who's always grilling me about following procedure? You should have called someone."

"I... You..."

"Yeah, no pointing fingers at me. You messed up as much as I did."

"Damn it!" Danny cursed under his breath, knowing Steve was right.

Steve started walking towards the observatory.

"Where're you going?"

"See if I can find a way to get us inside again. They have phones there, and we will be warmer."

Warmth. That would be good. Danny was freezing to the bone. He watched Steve mess with the door for a while, sigh heavily and bang his fists on it. Danny slumped. "No luck?"

"No. It's all electronic, too. And the glass is too strong, I can't break it."

"Shit!" Danny cursed again. He looked at Steve and didn't like what he saw. "No, no, no, I know that face and you're not doing it."

"What?" Steve was the picture of innocence and he looked almost offended.

"Whatever crazy idea you just had, you're not doing it." Danny was almost yelling now, hands emphasizing his point.

"I just thought that the car has a good structure, it'd probably be able to break through the glass."

"The glass maybe, but the door is too narrow and the walls are pure concrete. You'll just get yourself killed on impact." The hand movements were getting faster and more intense, Danny mimicking everything he was saying. He could feel his breathing getting a little weird, but he was getting too worked up to pay much attention to it.

"Alright, alright, you have a point." Steve displayed his hands in a defensive manner. "Fine, they have phones at the visitor's center, and I'm sure that door will be a lot easier to open. We can hike there."

"Hike? You want to hike god knows how many miles in the snow?"

"It would only be a four-hour hike."

" _Only_ four hours? Are you insane? You know what, forget that question. Of course you're insane."

"Well, do you have any better ideas?"

Danny started to say something, but the next thing that came out of his mouth was a wheezy breath.

Steve rushed to his side. "Danny? Are you okay?"

Danny tried to say he was fine, but suddenly the world seemed to be spinning around him and he swayed. Steve moved toward him at once and kept him steady.

"What's wrong?"

"I... don't... know..." Danny's words were interspersed with deep, rapid breaths.

"Fuck. You're getting mountain sickness."

"I... what?"

"Because of the low air pressure. The low oxygen levels are starting to affect you. Fuck." Steve looked around and focused on Danny again. "Okay, hiking is completely out of question now. We have to get you warm. Cold will just make it worse. Let's get inside the car, at least we'll be protected from the cold wind there."

Danny didn't even answer, just started walking to the car, being supported by Steve the whole time. He was having a hard time staying upright, it was even worse trying to put one foot before the other. Steve helped him into the passenger seat and walked around to get into the other side. He turned the heat on low.

"Can't... you... get... it... any... higher? I'm... freezing."

Steve sighed. "We have to assume we're going to be here all night now. The observatory will only open at seven, we have to wait for over six hours. We don't have enough gas to keep the engine running until then, so we have to ration the heat. Besides..."

"What?... Besides... what?"

Steve took a very deep breath and closed his eyes. After a long time he opened them again and stared at Danny.

"You're pale, shivering and your skin is too cold. I think you're getting hypothermia. I have to keep you warm, but it can't be too hot in here or you'll just get worse."

Danny just stared at Steve, panic overwhelming him again, his breathing getting even faster. Steve leaned over and squeezed his shoulders.

"Danno, you have to keep calm. You're gonna be alright, okay? But you have to keep calm."

"Why... aren't... you..."

"Probably because I'm in better shape than you. It hasn't been long since you completely recovered from the surgery, you haven't had time to get fit yet."

Danny just slumped again, but now it was more from the weakness and dullness he was feeling than from desperation. He was getting too dizzy and lethargic to think, let alone panic. Steve reached for the door and Danny tried to catch his arm, but his movements were getting sluggish.

"Where..."

"I'm going to see if there's anything in the trunk that could help keep us warm. I'll be right back. Just stay calm, okay? Take deep breaths and stay still."

Danny wanted to ask Steve to stay, but it was getting hard to form words. He let his head fall back on the seat and tried to focus on his breathing like Steve had told him to. It didn't take long for Steve to come back, but Danny could barely identify what he had in his hands.

"I found a blanket in the trunk, no idea what it was doing there. I don't think they're very thorough when detailing their cars. Their tires are very flimsy, too. I definitely won't be recommending this agency to anyone."

Something that could have been a laugh tried to leave Danny's throat, but he didn't have that much strength left to do much of anything. Through the fog that was taking over his brain he was able to feel Steve unfolding the blanket and placing it over him. Then Steve's hand was on his cheek, and he couldn't help leaning into his touch. It felt so good, so warm, so soft.

"You're still too cold. C'mere." Steve turned to Danny, put one arm around his shoulders and started pulling him in.

"What... are... you..."

"If we stay close we'll be warmer. Just let me hold you."

Danny felt his heartbeat getting faster, but he couldn't tell if it was his condition getting worse or the idea of being so close to Steve. He felt Steve's strong arms embracing him and he couldn't fight this even if he wanted to... Not that he did. The next second Danny was surrounded by the other man, Steve's firm chest supporting Danny's back, his arms keeping him close, safe, comfortable. Danny couldn't help the soft sigh that left him and he relaxed against Steve, feeling very sleepy. He tucked his head in the crook of the other man's neck and felt himself drifting off.

Steve couldn't believe how good it felt. He felt like an asshole, taking advantage of Danny's condition, but it was like a dream come true, having the other man in his arms like that. It was all he'd ever wanted, to feel him so close. He loved taking care of Danny in every way possible and he felt as if he were in heaven, at last being able to comfort him physically, too. Danny just felt so... divine. So relaxed against him, as if he wanted nothing more than to be there. Steve knew he was like that only because of the mountain sickness combined with the cold, but for just that one brief moment he'd allow himself to dream that this could be true, that Danny could actually want to snuggle with him. Steve's nostrils were filled with Danny's wonderful smell. He could recognize that scent anywhere, but to have it so close, combined with the feel of Danny's silky hair tickling his jaw, his soft breath on his neck...

Steve couldn't help moving closer, nuzzling Danny's face, bumping his nose against his temple. God, he was a jerk, such a fucking jerk. Here Danny was, sick, no doubt feeling like shit, and all Steve could think about was how much he wanted him. Steve was glad it was cold and Danny was sleeping, otherwise the man would be able to feel the way Steve's body was reacting to that proximity and then he'd know with absolute certainty the kind of things that were going through Steve's head.

Danny stirred, as if he could hear Steve's thoughts, and snuggled even closer. Steve took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. He wasn't sure he could handle being that close, having Danny move against him and not do anything. Danny moved his face and nuzzled Steve's neck.

"Mm, Steve..."

The way Danny breathed that out went straight to Steve's groin and made him shiver. He held Danny tighter, his arms seemingly having a will of their own. He moved his head, turning to face Danny. The other man tilted his head up a little, until their noses were bumping against each other. Steve's heart felt like desperate drumming inside his chest, his stomach clenched in anticipation. Danny let out a shaky breath that Steve could feel on his lips, warm and moist and arousing as hell.

"God, Danny..."

Their breaths were mixing and their lips were just a few inches apart. Against his better judgement, Steve leaned in, and then... He stopped when their lips were almost touching and straightened up. What was that? He thought he could hear the rumbling of an engine, getting closer. It was a helicopter! Steve turned to tell Danny, and realized he'd nuzzled against his neck again and was fast asleep. He let out a deep, mournful sigh and felt his heart constrict in his chest. Danny had just been dreaming. None of that had been real. Steve felt his throat tightening, but he swallowed the lump down and shook Danny, trying to rouse him.

"Danny. Someone's coming."

Danny pulled away from Steve in slow motion, looking lost, as if he didn't even know where he was. Steve felt the loss of Danny's body acutely and tried to suppress the pain of knowing that the dream was over and he was back to the reality where Danny saw him as nothing more than a friend. He shook himself out of those thoughts and freed his hands from around Danny's body, turned on the headlights and started honking the horn trying to make sure that they would be seen.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny's memories and feelings were all a jumbled mess. He had a vague memory of Steve pulling him out of the car and ushering him into the chopper. He knew he dozed off for most of the ride, the constant rumble of the engines surrounding him, but it was all hazy and he didn't even open his eyes the entire journey. Now he had a mask over his face and things were beginning to get a bit clearer. Slowly he recognized that he was in the emergency room of a hospital and the mask on his face was supplying him with much needed oxygen. He had a blanket over him, too. He could recognize Steve standing a few feet away, talking to someone on the phone. He closed his eyes again, waiting for the fog to dissipate completely.

It wasn't long before he heard Steve approach the gurney and he opened his eyes, glad that now he felt practically normal.

"Hey," Steve started softly. "How you feeling?"

Danny pulled the mask off his face. "I'm okay, I guess. Don't remember much of anything, but I feel fine now."

A sad, hurt look crossed over Steve's face and Danny thought if felt out of place. He didn't know what Steve could be upset about. They were okay, and even if they had lost the suspect, Danny didn't think it would be reason for Steve to look like that.

"Any news on the case?"

"Uh, yeah, that was Chin on the phone. He found the guy, they're taking him to HQ now."

"Wow, that was fast."

"Well, it didn't take long for Chin to make a move once we were found. He'd already figured out who we were after – he's the one that sent the chopper, by the way – and when I contacted him through the radio he'd already put a BOLO out and alerted TSA. Ferris was about to board a plane to the mainland in Kona, a few more minutes and we'd have missed him."

"How the hell did he do all that? How could he know he was a suspect? We didn't know before we talked to the guy."

"I guess hunches are really paying off on this case. He thought it weird when he tried to get through to us and couldn't and decided to put word out. 'Better safe than sorry', he said. He'd rather apologize for bothering a witness than lose a suspect."

"Impressive," Danny said earnestly. "Still doesn't explain how he knew where we were and who we went to talk to."

"He went back to HQ after talking to the last witness to get his laptop and he saw our search on the screen. Once he figured out we'd come all the way here he thought it better to make sure we were alright."

"Huh. Remind me to give him an extra special Christmas gift."

"Yeah, we definitely owe him one."

"You can say that again."

"Anyway, now that you're okay we can fly back to Oahu. Chin said he'd wait for us to question Ferris."

"Thank god. Never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait to be back."

"I wouldn't worry too much." There was a glint back in Steve's eyes, which instantly made Danny relax. "The sickness made you very confused, you'll probably be back to your usual island-hating self soon enough." Steve had that joking tone Danny loved so much and a heart-stopping smile plastered on his face.

"Thanks. I feel better already." Danny removed the mask completely and got up.

"C'mon, let's get outta here."

When they got home after solving the case, all Danny could think about was going to bed. Steve said he didn't have to go back to HQ, but Danny wanted to be present when the asshole who trapped them on the mountain was brought in. Turns out it was easier to prove his guilt than they expected, because apparently being a professor and researcher is no guarantee of being smart. Ferris had used the same knife he used to kill Dr. Falkwins to slash the tires of Steve and Danny's rental car, and not only they could match the shape of the knife to the gashes on the tires, they also found trace amounts of Dr. Falkwins blood. Danny had wasted no time in telling the professor how much of a moron he thought he was and it felt profoundly satisfying after the previous night's experience.

It was Danny's turn to cook again, but Steve offered to do it for him. Danny said they could order in, they'd only done that once that week, but Steve insisted Danny have a home-cooked meal, to 'help him recover'. Danny told Steve that he was exaggerating his condition, but he couldn't help but think that Steve was ridiculously adorable for doing that. He went to have a shower while Steve cooked and when he came back downstairs he was greeted by the delicious smell of lasagna cooking in the oven.

"That smells great! I almost feel like I'm back home and my ma is cooking."

Steve turned away from the counter he'd been cleaning and faced Danny, a sheepish expression on his face.

"I hope it's as good as your mom's." Steve wasn't looking Danny in the eyes.

"Oh, babe, my mother's lasagna is a family secret and I've never had one like hers. But I'm sure yours will be a close second."

"It still needs half an hour in the oven. Want a beer while we wait?"

"Sure."

Steve handed Danny a bottle and they went back to the living room, where some random game was on. Danny didn't really care who was playing, he'd just be glad to have a distraction until he could be fed and ready to sleep. They sat on the couch, one on each end. Danny had his eyes on the TV, but he wasn't focusing. Even if he was feeling better, the whole experience had been exhausting and he felt completely drained. He noticed Steve staring at him and he turned to look at him and found a weird expression on his face.

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Huh?" Steve seemed surprised when he realized Danny was looking at him as if his mind had been somewhere else. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad you're okay." He smiled, but it felt a little forced.

"I guess I have you to thank for that."

Steve just shrugged, stared at Danny for a while longer, the sad look he had in the hospital back on his face, then turned his eyes back to the TV. There was something very strange going on with Steve, but Danny couldn't figure out what it was. He scooted down on the couch, closed his eyes and rested his head. He must have fallen asleep, because next thing he knew Steve was handing him a plate filled with mouthwatering food.

"Careful, it's hot."

"Thanks babe, it looks amazing."

Danny put a mouthful on his fork and blew. When he thought it was cold enough he put it in his mouth and had his mind-blown.

"Oh, god. I don't know how this is even remotely possible, but this tastes exactly like my ma's."

The blinding smile on Steve's face could have powered a small town.

"Seriously, Steve, how did you do this?"

"I, um..." Steve ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I... I might have called your mom... And insisted a lot... And maybe even blackmailed her a little."

Danny's jaw dropped open and he was having a very hard time closing it back.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or scared," Danny said when he eventually got hold of his mouth again. "Twisting my ma's arm on anything, let alone family secrets is no easy feat."

Steve shrugged again. "I guess she just wanted to make sure her baby was taken care of."

Danny stared at Steve for a very long time, trying to wrap his mind around what his amazing friend had done. It didn't feel real, that anyone would go through that much trouble for him and he felt his chest fill with warmth and fondness. Could that man be any more perfect?

"Thank you. Really, this is perfect."

Danny reached over to place his hand on Steve's arm and the other man practically jumped. Danny pulled back, surprised at his reaction and Steve was up at once, saying he was going to get another beer. Danny was left behind feeling utterly bewildered.

Steve leaned over the counter and took a deep breath. He wished he hadn't reacted like that, but the whole day he'd been trying to get his emotions under control and he felt he was about to explode. He couldn't make himself forget the feeling of Danny in his arms, but every time he looked at the man, he was reminded that everything had been one sided. Danny didn't even remember what had happened – as he'd painfully reminded Steve several times during the day – and Steve was sure that if Danny had been more conscious the previous night, he'd never have let Steve hold him like that, and Steve would never hear the end of it just for offering.

What was even worse was that, if Steve had wanted to take care of Danny before, now he wanted to do it ten times more. As soon as they got on the rescue chopper Steve remembered Danny mentioning that his favorite food was his mother's lasagna and he hadn't thought twice before forming a plan and putting it into motion. He started making all the required phone calls while he was at the hospital waiting for Danny to get stabilized and when they left for Oahu, everything he'd need was already on its way to HQ, courtesy of a friend of his who was a chef and hadn't minded picking up supplies for him.

At first the conversation with Danny's mom had been as hard as Danny said it should've been. The woman didn't know much about Steve and wasn't the least bit inclined to let him in on her famous recipe. After talking for a long time, Steve started playing dirty and said that given that he was Danny's roommate and work partner, he could interfere with how often or not he contacted her, running interference when he tried to call, or providing incentive for him to do it more often. She started to sway a little at that point, and the last nail on the coffin was insisting that he just wanted to give Danny some comfort food after he'd had such a rough night. When she finished letting him in on all the details to make the recipe work, she ended the call saying something that had been haunting Steve all day: 'my son is lucky to have someone who loves him that much'.

Not that it was much of a surprise. Steve knew that he loved Danny, had known for a long time. There's only so long a person can lie to themselves before the truth becomes too obvious. And it had become obvious. Steve had never felt like that for anyone before and there wasn't a doubt on his mind that this was the real thing, which only made the whole situation all the more painful. But the thing with real love was this – and Steve was surprised to learn that this wasn't over-romanticized bullshit, but actual fact: when you feel that way about someone, their needs and happiness do become more important than your own. He'd do anything for Danny, make sure he was safe and well for as long as he could, regardless of how Danny felt about him. And he knew with absolute certainty that that was never going to change.

Steve took another deep breath, trying hard to rein in his emotions again. He needed to go back and act normal, because all he was doing now was making Danny concerned, and that's the last thing Steve wanted. He wanted the other man to feel good, secure and most of all, happy. Steve never wanted to be the one to cause Danny any pain or discomfort. He got his beer, went back to the living room and scolded Danny for not eating and letting his food go cold.

Danny had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but now it was the morning and his mind was being assaulted by images – and feelings – that were gut wrenching and arousing at the same time. He blamed his ridiculous hazy state the night at the mountain for all this, for filling his head with possibilities that could never be real.

It was almost as if he could still feel Steve's arms around him, and apparently his mind had seen it fit to run wild with that feeling and make it ten times more intense. Now Danny was having dreams – or hallucinations, he wasn't sure – of him and Steve snuggling in a way that was far beyond keeping each other warm. He could practically feel Steve's stubble against his face when he nuzzled the other man's neck, his wonderful smell, Steve holding him tighter and nuzzling his face. He felt his whole body go warm at the thought of them turning to each other and getting so close they were sharing breath and bumping noses. His mind was being so cruel that he felt as if it was all a real memory, including the fact that they were almost kissing and Danny could feel Steve's want for him, in the way he said his name, and how fast he was breathing, and how he could almost feel the other man's desperate heart beat on his back.

What was even more cruel was that the stupid hallucination stopped there. No images of the actual kiss were forthcoming and Danny didn't know if he was disappointed or grateful. Of course, being the masochist that he was, he let himself fill in the blanks and allowed his head to be flooded with imagined images of passionate kisses and desperate touches until he couldn't stand the intensity of his arousal anymore and had to do something about it. God, that man was going to be the death of him.

That night the whole team went out to blow off some steam. It was fireworks-Friday at the Hilton and they still hadn't had a chance to go there with the out-of-towners, Lou and Lori, and this seemed like as good a time as any.

"Cath, when is Billy coming?" Steve asked from one end of the table, Catherine sitting opposite him, which made it possible for everyone to hear their conversation.

"His next leave should start next weekend." Catherine had a look that all those who where in relationships where you couldn't see your significant other often shared.

"It's been a while, huh?" Steve continued.

"Over four months now."

"How long's he staying?" Danny, who was sitting beside Steve, joined in.

"Two weeks."

Danny and Steve shared a look and Steve nodded.

"We'll see if we can't get you a few days off, provided we don't get any major cases." Danny knew he and Steve were in agreement even if they hadn't shared any words. Many times they weren't necessary between them.

"I'd appreciate that, very much."

"I don't know how you both do it, man." Lou shook his head. "One night without Renee and I already miss her."

"Aww," Kono and Catherine said in unison.

"You're so sweet, all in love even after all this time," Kono finished.

"I say it's not worth it," Lori said. "No attachment, no pain."

"What made you so cynical, woman?" Lou questioned.

"Just wait until she finds the right girl and she'll be changing her tune in no time," Kono said with the wisdom only a twenty year old could have.

"Nah, no such thing," Lori continued. "It's better to just have some fun and let them go."

"You don't believe in soul mates?" Chin joined the conversation.

"No way. That would be just a recipe for disaster. Thinking there's one and only one person in the whole world who holds the key to your entire happiness? Why would anyone want that?"

"It's not a matter of wanting, it's a matter of having it happen to you and accept the consequences, because that one and only one person makes it all worth it." Lou had a love-sick puppy look on his face that almost seemed out of place.

Danny had been staring at the napkin on his plate, playing with it, but he looked up at that moment and his eyes automatically found Steve, who was staring at him but quickly turned away. Danny thought he might have seen that same weird look on his face, but it was gone in a flash. He felt his chest constrict. Having it happen to you and accept the consequences, alright. He'd forever be in love with a man who'd never be his and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

"Well, Lou, I hope you're wrong, 'cause I never wanna be at another person's mercy like that. Now excuse me, there's a cute girl at the bar and I'm gonna go talk to her."

The whole table laughed at that, except for Steve and Danny. Danny chanced another glance at Steve, who was looking down, with an air of sadness that made Danny's insides hurt. He wondered what that was about and it finally occurred to him that Steve looked the way he felt. He'd never stopped to think that Steve might be in love with someone. He'd gotten used to the idea of never having him, but stupidly he'd never thought that eventually Steve would find a nice woman that he'd want to be with. Danny wondered who it might be, if he knew her, all the while feeling sick to his stomach, not knowing if he'd ever be able to handle seeing Steve with someone else.

Danny was jolted out of his thoughts by Steve's phone ringing.

"Mary," Steve said looking up at Danny, only a trace left of the expression he had before.

Steve got up and moved away from the table to answer the phone. Danny couldn't keep his eyes off him, still thinking about what he'd just realized, but at the same time trying to gauge how the conversation was going. More often than not a call from Mary meant trouble.

After a few minutes, Steve turned back and walked towards the table, face impassive but a completely different kind of sadness exuding from him.

"What is it, babe?" Danny could feel his concern showing in his voice.

"Um, it's my aunt." Steve looked lost, as if trying to wrap his mind around whatever Mary had told him. "She's in the hospital."

"Where? Why?" Danny started feeling anxious. He hated seeing Steve like that, and something told him there was nothing he'd be able to do to make it better this time.

Steve allowed his body to fall back down on the chair, and Danny knew it was taking a great amount of effort for him not to look like he was about to crack.

"LA," Steve replied and stared into nothing for a while. "She's got cancer. I didn't know... We didn't know, she never told us."

"Is she gonna be alright?" Danny had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

"No." Steve stared right into Danny's eyes, and Danny could see too much pain in Steve's. "She's dying, Danny."


	6. Chapter 6

"She's dying, Danny."

Danny was shocked into silence, wanting to say something comforting, but knowing that there wasn't much he could say that would help.

"Uh, I, I need to go home, pack a bag." Steve was getting up again. "I'll get a cab."

"What, are you insane? I'm going with you."

"No, Danny, you don't have to. Stay here with the rest of the team."

"What kind of person you think I am? My best friend needs help and I'm just gonna stay here and have a few drinks? I'm going with you."

Steve's eyes suddenly got a very fond look and some of the pain that was there seemed to subside.

"What? What's with the look?"

"I'm your best friend?"

"Of course you are. How's that news to you?"

"I don't know, I just..." Steve shrugged. "You've never said that before."

"Honestly, Steve. For a guy that's ridiculously smart like you are, you can be pretty damn slow sometimes. Now can we go?"

"Yeah, Danno." The softest, sweetest smile spread over Steve's face and Danny felt his insides go warm. "We can go."

They said their goodbyes to the team and went to the car. Danny got the keys and turned to toss them to Steve, but he was already headed to the passenger side. Danny never thought he'd feel so saddened to drive his own car.

xXxXx

"Go pack your bag, I'll check when the next flight to LA is out," Danny said as soon as they got inside the house.

" 'kay," Steve mumbled while climbing the stairs.

Danny got his phone out, figuring it would be easier to talk to the airline directly. Steve disappeared from sight, but Danny kept staring anxiously at that spot during the entire time he was talking to the airline attendant.

"Sorry, babe," Danny started as soon as Steve appeared at the top of the stairs, with what Danny knew to be a meticulously packed duffel bag in hand. "Flights tonight are all booked out. Something about a conference that just ended or something. I got the first one tomorrow morning, seven am."

"Oh." Steve deflated. "Okay. I need to call Mary, let her know I'll only be there tomorrow after lunch."

"You do that. I'll go get us something to drink." Danny moved to the kitchen while Steve made his call, finding a bottle of whisky, figuring that Steve would probably need it, especially since they'd stuck to beers while at the Hilton.

When he came back, Steve was sitting on the floor with his back propped on the couch, phone still clutched in his hand and the lost look back in his eyes. Danny sat by his side and poured them both a generous portion of the drink.

"How's Mary holding up?"

"Not well. She's trying to stay strong, but I know her. I wish I could be there for her now."

"You'll be there soon. Nothing you can do about it now. Is she at the hospital?"

"No, they wouldn't let her in, it's past visiting hours. She'll go there first thing in the morning."

Danny just nodded. They stayed quiet for a while, slowly drinking their whisky.

"Tell me about her," Danny finally prompted.

Steve was quiet a while longer, swirling the drink in his glass, eyes on it but unfocused. He let out a deep sigh before he started talking.

"We didn't see her very often since she lived on the mainland, but she always came for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and for our birthdays if she could." Steve laughed softly. "She and my mom would always fight over what to cook, and we usually ended up with a mix of things that didn't make much sense when put together, but tasted wonderful anyway." There was a soft smile on his face and his eyes were fond and sad at the same time. "The first Thanksgiving after my mom died, she came here as usual, and without another word she got my mom's cookbook out and made everything she'd always fought against. That year, when we got to the point of saying what we were thankful for, we all said the same thing: family. Losing my mom, even if it left a big hole in the family... it made us closer. Aunt Deb was a huge part of that, even from afar."

Steve got silent again, staring into nothing. Danny just waited.

"I think my biggest regret will always be that I let myself drift apart from them when I went to the Navy. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson when my dad died, but I think I probably just called her once since I got back here. And now there'll be no one left to push away. Just me and Mare."

Danny felt his heart break a little at that. He wanted to say something, but knew that there was nothing that he could say, and that Steve wouldn't want him to give him empty words of comfort either. So he kept quiet, offering silent support.

"I know it's not he same," Danny started after a long time had passed. "But you'll never be alone here. You'll always have us, you'll always have our team."

"No." Steve turned to look at Danny, looking very tired. "No, it's not the same. But it's pretty close." A soft smile opened on Steve's face, and he kept gazing into Danny's eyes like he couldn't bear to look away. He cleared his throat after a while. "You should go get some sleep. It's getting late."

"I'm only going if you're going."

"You don't have to do that, Danny."

"I'm not leaving you alone, Steve. And don't even try telling me you're going now, because I know you won't sleep. I'll keep guard at your bedroom door if I have to."

"Because _that's_ not creepy at all." Steve laughed. "Fine. But if you're staying we might as well do something. You have any games recorded?"

"Yeah, I do."

Danny got up to get the remote and Steve moved up to sit on the couch. They'd usually sit far apart, but this time Steve sat in the middle and there was no room for Danny unless he sat very close to Steve. He wasn't complaining.

Halfway through the game, Steve fell asleep on Danny's shoulder. Danny moved to get his phone from his pocket as quietly and slowly as he could, and set up the alarm for 4:30. He then closed his eyes and was asleep in minutes.

xXxXx

The alarm going off made them both jump. Danny rubbed his eyes and when he looked at Steve he saw the expression of confusion over what he was doing sleeping in the living room turn into sadness when he remembered. Danny's heart broke all over again.

"Go get a shower, babe. I'll make you some coffee."

"Okay." Steve rubbed a hand over his face, his voice still slurred from sleep. "Thanks, Danny."

Steve showered, they had coffee and Danny drove to the airport. They had about an hour to wait before boarding time, and Danny stayed with Steve until the last minute when he had to go through security.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" Danny said when they reached the security gate. They both seemed a little uncomfortable, not knowing how to say goodbye.

"Okay." Steve wasn't looking at Danny, but he didn't move away either.

"C'mere," Danny said eventually, pulling Steve into his arms and hugging him. It didn't take long for Steve to relax in his arms and hug him back tightly. They stayed there for a while and it seemed like neither one of them wanted to let go. "Call me if you need anything." Danny finally pulled back.

"I will." Steve pulled back, too, and Danny wondered if he had imagined that Steve took longer than strictly necessary to let him go completely. "Thanks, Danno. For everything."

"Anything for you, babe."

Steve smiled sadly and turned away. Danny watched him go until he couldn't see him anymore, let out a deep sigh and went back home.

xXxXx

Danny tried to get some sleep when he got home, but he couldn't. He just tossed and turned, worried about Steve and wishing he was still by his side. He wanted to offer to go with him, but he knew he shouldn't really be there, it was a moment for family only. Besides, he also knew that Steve would rather he stay with the team in case they caught something important.

After one hour he gave up and got up. He spent the whole day cleaning the house, seeing as he had nothing better to do and it would keep his mind off things – sort of. He cleaned every inch of that place, including inside cupboards and closets and even the oven. Anything to keep himself busy. It was after nine when he finished, and he took a shower and sat in front of the TV to eat some dinner. He must have fallen asleep and was startled when his phone rang. He saw that it was after eleven and Steve's name was flashing on the screen.

xXxXx

"Hey."

Steve could hear the yawn that Danny was trying to hide.

"Sorry. I woke you up, didn't I?"

"No, it's okay. I fell asleep in front of the TV again."

"I shouldn't be calling you so late, I just..."

"It's okay, Steve, I don't mind. I want to talk to you. How you holding up?"

"I'm okay, I guess. Mary isn't. She's taking it all pretty hard."

"Did you stay at the hospital all day?"

"Yeah, we only left at ten when we got kicked out. I was talking to Mary for a while until she got tired enough to go to sleep."

"You must be tired, too."

"I am, I just..." _Desperately needed to hear your voice._ "Wanted to know how you're doing."

"Me? You're concerned about me?"

"Well, maybe I just miss you." Steve made it sound like a joke, but he suspected Danny could see right through it. After the day he'd had, he didn't really care all that much. "Or maybe I just want to check if you haven't burned down the house."

"No, Steven, I didn't burn down the house and I take serious offense at that implication. Here I spent the whole day slaving away cleaning it, and your first thought is to assume that I'd somehow have allowed any sort of damage to desecrate our humble abode."

And that was exactly why Steve needed to talk to Danny. Because with the smallest prompt he'd go back to his usual bitching, ranting, weird – in the best possible way – self and for a few minutes Steve'd be able to pretend that everything was okay.

"Did you swallow a dictionary or something?"

"Just because your vocabulary is limited to 'freeze' and 'fire', doesn't mean the rest of us can't use a larger variety of vocables."

"Voc- the hell, Danny? You know, I'm not even gonna go there."

"I do always expect you to leave the argument when it becomes too complicated for you."

"Whatever. Anyway, what's with all the cleaning? You gotta admit that's a little out of character. What brought on such a nice gesture from you, if I may ask?"

"I wasn't being nice, I was bored. You know Grace wasn't coming and I guess I must have gotten used to you annoying the hell out of me all day. I needed a distraction."

"Aw, you miss me."

"No, I don't miss you. I miss the noise. You know I need something to drown out the sound of the waves. But don't worry, tomorrow I'll just leave all the appliances in the house on and it will be fine. It'll probably even be less annoying than you."

Steve laughed. God, he loved that man. Loved the way he felt the need to hide how much he cared about people behind bickering, as if he felt that his feelings were so strong that he'd drown in them if he let them out. He'd never known anyone that felt as deeply as Danny did and he felt blessed that at least part of those feelings were directed towards him, regardless of the form they came in. Steve almost said it, too tired and worn out to keep up the usual pretence, but he caught himself in time. He couldn't say it, too worried that Danny would take it the wrong way and it would mess what they had.

"Well, I'm glad to know that my attempt at being the most annoying thing in your life has been successful."

"Figures this would be something you'd do on purpose."

"Of course, Danno. Where do you think my fun would come from, if I didn't live to torture you?"

"You could try being a normal human being and enjoy things that don't involve other people's suffering, how about that?"

"Nah, that doesn't sound like fun at all."

Steve could hear Danny's chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Go get some sleep, Steve."

"You, too. Night, Danny."

"Night."

"Who was that?"

Steve was startled by Mary's voice coming from behind him.

"I thought you'd gone to sleep."

"Got thirsty. You didn't answer my question."

"Uh, that was my partner, Danny. Just called to check if everything was okay back home."

"Uh-hum." Mary was staring at him, wearing a suspicious frown. "The same Danny who was about to live on the streets, which I'm sure was no exaggeration at all, and you kindly offered to share your house with?"

"Yes." Steve was getting wary, not liking Mary's tone of voice.

"Also the same Danny who you met because you ran him over, and instead of just checking if he was okay and moving on with your life you started visiting every day and then invited to lead your task force with you?"

"Yes, Mary, and you already know the answer to all these questions so what's your point?"

"Oh, nothing."

Mary turned her back to Steve and went to the fridge to get some water. A small voice inside Steve's head told him he should let this go, but McGarretts never quit during their pursuit to find out the truth.

"Nothing?"

Mary turned to look at him, a knowing smile on her face. "Don't pretend you don't know."

"Know what?"

"That you love him."

Steve felt his mouth open and close several times before he could get any words out. "I... it's... that's..." Not meaningful words, mind you, but words nonetheless. That should count for something.

"Aw, look at you, all flustered and cute. Never thought I'd see my big brother so gone on someone like that."

"I'm not..."

"You know you can't lie to me, right? And I gotta tell you, if you're trying to hide it you're doing a terrible job. It's all over your face."

Steve considered trying to deny it further, but realized it was useless.

"Alright, what if I do?"

"Does he know?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want him to know."

"That's gotta be the most stupid thing I've heard in my life."

"How is that stupid?"

"Why wouldn't you want him to know?"

"Because he doesn't feel the same way and if he knew it'd just ruin our friendship. I don't want to lose him."

"How can you be so sure that he doesn't feel the same way?"

"I... He... I just know, okay?"

"Oh, that was a great, completely explanatory answer."

"He just doesn't see me that way. We're just friends."

"Okay, and again I ask you: how can you be sure?" She emphasized every word and Steve felt like he was being talked to as if he were a child.

"I think I would've noticed something if he saw me like that. He's never given me any sign that he's interested."

"And you're sure he doesn't know how you feel?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Mary gave him a very pointed look that clearly said 'I'm just gonna wait here until you realize how much of an idiot you are'.

And Steve really did feel like a little bit of an idiot, because he'd never thought of it that way. But it didn't change anything, did it?

"It's just different, okay? Danny's open and honest about everything. He wouldn't be able to hide his feelings, I know he wouldn't. And you know how I am, you know I'm hard to read."

"Okay, for the sake of argument, let's pretend you're right – which I absolutely don't think you are, by the way. Why not talk to him anyway? Maybe knowing how you feel would change his mind, make him consider the possibility."

"It's just not worth it, Mare. This tiny possibility of him being willing to try wouldn't be worth the risk of losing him."

"Oh, being with the man you love isn't worth some risk. Honestly, Steve, I expected better from you."

"Mare..." Steve was getting very tired and frustrated with this conversation.

"Steve... If he's half the man you say he is, he wouldn't stop being your friend just because you were honest with him. He'd still want you around. And if he doesn't, then that just means you're wrong and shouldn't even want to be with him anyway."

"I'm not wrong, okay? He's the best man I know and anyone would be lucky to have him."

"So... What are you still afraid of?"

Mary stared at him for a short while then left the kitchen without a second glance towards Steve. He barely slept all night, not being able to get that conversation out of his head.

xXxXx

The next day, Steve was coming back to the hospital room after lunch bringing coffee for Mary and aunt Deb. She wasn't allowed to drink it, but honestly, what difference would it make at that point? He gave them both their drinks and settled on the couch. He noticed Mary and Deb exchange a look.

"So, honey, tell me about this Danny person."

Steve glared daggers at Mary.

"I can't believe you told her."

"I just figured you needed to hear the voice of someone mature and experienced, big brother. I'm sure you'll thank me for that one day. Now excuse me, I'm going to go drink my coffee outside." She winked at Steve and left the room.

"Come sit over here, Steve." Deb pointed to a chair close to the bed.

Steve didn't hesitate even if part of him was dreading what was about to come.

"Have I ever told you about Henry?"

"Uh, no. Who is he?"

"Was. He passed a few years ago. We went to high school together. He was the best friend I've ever had – no other person I ever met even came close to him. I was deeply in love with him, but I always assumed he wouldn't ever want me that way, that we were just friends. I hid my feelings as best I could and just tried to make the most of the relationship I did have with him. He went to college on the east coast, and eventually we lost touch. I heard a few years later that he'd gotten married. I forgot about him, or at least tried to tell myself I had, until a few decades later, when we met by chance. He was in LA on business and we ran into each other on the street. We went for coffee, and he told me matter-of-factly how much he'd always loved me and wished we'd gotten together, as if it was just an anecdote of the past and he was over it. I didn't have the heart, or the guts, to tell him that I felt the same. He was still married and nothing good would come out of it. So, time went by, and I tried to put it behind me. Another decade later I heard he'd gotten ill and I went to see him in the hospital. Found out he'd divorced just six months after that day we met on the street. While at the hospital, he told me that he'd never loved her like he loved me. Said that the reason he'd told me what he did that day in the coffee shop was in hopes that he'd been wrong before and I could feel something, too – he was already in the process of separating from his wife – but the fact that I didn't say anything just confirmed his suspicion that I never felt the same. I still couldn't tell him that I loved him back. I thought it would just break his heart like it had broken mine. He died two days later, never knowing how I felt."

Steve was completely quiet, not knowing what to say, or even what to think.

"The reason I'm telling you this should be obvious, but I'll spell it out anyway just in case. Don't make the same mistake I did, kid. There's nothing worse in this world than knowing you could have had the thing you wanted most and missed it because you were too much of a coward to fight for it. I'm dying, Steve, and all I know is that I'm not taking anything from this life with me. All that matters is the moments, the good and the bad, the things I shared with the people who were important to me and who left an impression on me and me them. When you're where I am now, all you think about is how much you wish you'd just had more moments, as many as possible."

Steve felt moisture in his eyes, thinking about the talk that other night with Danny, how he'd said that he regretted not spending more time with his family. What if in a way he'd been doing the same thing with Danny? Wasting time when they could have more?

"Go fight for your man, Steve. Only let go when you're damn sure you've tried everything you possibly could. If what Mary's told me is true, we don't get to love that much that often. Don't waste it. Even if in the end he doesn't feel the same, he deserves to know that someone feels that way about him."

"Okay." Steve's voice was watery and strangled with too many emotions to name. The idea of letting Danny know how he felt scared the hell out of him, but what Deb had just told him... He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ever found out that he'd missed his chance with Danny because he was too much of a chicken to even give it a shot. And if nothing else, if anyone deserved to know how loved they were, it was Danny.

"Promise me you'll talk to him."

"I promise."

xXxXx

The team was gathered around the tech table, Kono explaining the details of her latest findings on their current case. Danny's phone rang and everyone's attention turned to him.

"Shit, it's Steve."

"Maybe it's nothing, boss," Lori said trying to be helpful but failing.

"No, it's something, he wouldn't be calling in the middle of the day for no reason." Danny turned away from the table. "Steve?"

"She's gone, Danno." Steve's voice was small over the phone.

Danny was stunned into silence for a while. It seemed that it didn't matter how much you were expecting bad news, it was still shocking when they came. "I'm sorry, man. How you doing, huh?"

"Been better. Mary's with her, saying goodbye. She's been there for half an hour. I'm worried about her, Danny."

"I know, babe, I know." Danny was silent for a long time, listening to Steve's breathing on the other end of the line. It was starting to piss him off this never knowing what to say that could comfort Steve. "Uh, when's the funeral?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll be there."

"No, Danny, you don't have to come, it's fine. You have work to do there."

"Steven, I swear to god, do not make me fight you on this. Because I will, I'll fight you, I don't even care."

Danny could hear the sound of Steve's soft chuckle.

"Okay. Just let me know the time of your flight and I'll pick you up at the airport."

"I can do that. Hang in there, buddy. I'll talk to you soon."

Danny turned around to the entire team staring at him. He felt guilty for leaving them in the middle of a case, but there's no way he'd let Steve go through this alone.

"I, um... I told him I'd..."

"It's okay, brah," Chin said in that calm, soothing tone he always had no matter how dire the situation. Danny had never been more grateful for it. "We can take care of things here. Go be with Steve."

"Okay. Thanks." Danny took a deep breath, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Uh, I should go."

"We'll be fine, Danny, don't worry." Catherine had the same comforting tone. He and Steve really couldn't have picked a better team. "Just tell him we're thinking of him, okay?"

"I will. Thanks." Danny turned away and rushed home, hoping the next flight would be soon.

xXxXx

The next flight out was late that night which meant he'd be arriving in LA at stupid o'clock. He considered not telling Steve, but he knew he'd just worry if Danny didn't call.

"Hey." Steve picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Hey, listen, they only had a flight late tonight, so I'll be getting there too early. Just give me Mary's address and I'll take a cab."

"No, Danny, I want to pick you up."

"You need to rest, Steve. It's no trouble, really, taking a cab will be fine."

"Danny, either you let me know what time your flight is getting here, or I'll wait for you the whole goddamned night at the airport."

"Jesus, what made you so stubborn?"

"I don't know, must have picked it up from my best friend."

Danny could hear the smile on Steve's voice and it made his entire being fill with warmth.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't let it out on me when you get cranky from too little sleep."

"I don't get cranky. You know I've been trained to endure much worse things than not sleeping enough."

"Sure. And I suppose I haven't been living with you and seen you get grumpy every time you have a bad night."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Just face it, babe. I've broken you. You're too comfortable around me to keep your superman persona up. Honestly? When it's just the two of us, the only thing that's left of your training is your complete disregard for safety. Of course, had I known I was doing that I would've kept my distance. You're a lot more annoying when you're not being your super stoic self."

Steve was silent.

"No come back? Of course not, 'cause you know I'm right."

"Whatever. Are you gonna give me your flight info or what?"

xXxXx

The ceremony had been simple but beautiful. Danny had stood by Steve's side the whole time and just his presence had been all the comfort he'd needed. He hadn't wanted the man to have gone through so much trouble to go there, but Steve was truly grateful he had. He'd stayed with him and Mary the entire day, helping with arrangements, making sure they both ate and rested when possible. Had he thanked the universe enough for putting that man in his life? Oh, yeah, only about fifty times in the past five minutes.

Steve'd made a promise to his aunt and no matter what happened he'd keep it. Of course, now that Danny was by his side his mind was flooded with a million voices telling him why this was a bad idea, but he wouldn't fail Deb. To be honest, even if he hadn't made the promise, his aunt's story had been more than enough to convince him. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to live with that kind of regret and he sure as hell didn't want that for him. He regretted enough things in his life, thank you very much.

He was now just trying to figure out the right time to do it. He wouldn't let himself chicken out and not do it at all, but there was no reason to screw his chances just for messing up the timing of the conversation. He'd thought about it the whole day, but they obviously couldn't have talked while in the middle of preparing for his aunt's funeral. Doing that on the plane would've been even worse. He needed to do it somewhere Danny could have some space in case he didn't like what Steve had to say. He hadn't said anything when they got back home either. They were both exhausted, Steve still trying to deal with the past few days and Danny having spent two nights in a row on a plane. They ended up sleeping most of the day, Chin refusing to let them go into work, saying they would probably wrap up the case soon anyway. It was now early evening and Danny was fixing their dinner.

"Wanna watch a movie or something while we eat?" Danny asked, stirring something that smelled delicious in a pot on the stove.

"Yeah, sure." That had been Steve's automatic response, but he thought better of it. He felt like his stomach was filled with hungry rats. He couldn't postpone this much longer or it'd drive him crazy. "Um, no."

Danny turned to look at him, seeming surprised at his denial. He stared quizzically at Steve for a while.

"You okay, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... Would you mind if we talked?"

"No, of course not. What's up?"

Danny looked wary despite his easy answer and Steve questioned the wisdom of what he was about to do. He almost backed out, but he couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd just have to get it over with and pray for the best.

"Uh, maybe we should go talk in the living room." Steve wasn't sure if he genuinely just wanted them to be more comfortable or if he was trying any possible excuse to put off the conversation. He felt like a walking contradiction.

Danny stared at him, but started moving towards the living room anyway, turning off the stove on the way.

"You sure you're okay?" Danny asked while sitting on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I just need to tell you something." Steve sat beside Danny, not too close, but not too far either.

"Okay. Go ahead."

"Alright, so, the thing is..." The thing was that Steve didn't know what the thing was. How the hell was he supposed to start this?

Danny just stared at Steve, looking confused. "Yes?"

"Okay, so here's the thing..." When had it gotten so warm in there? And did his hands really have to sweat so much?

"Steve, babe, please just finish this sentence. You're making me nervous."

"Okay." Steve rubbed his hands on his pants and cleared his throat. It was now or never and he'd be damned if he'd let it be never. "The thing is that I love you."

Okay, so maybe he'd been a little more blunt than he'd originally intended. He was nervous, alright, and that's what had come out. Of course now that he saw that Danny's eyes had gone so wide he thought they might fall out of its sockets he wished he'd started more slowly. Too late now, he had to see this through.

"I love you, Danny, more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life. I think you're incredible and I feel blessed to have you in my life. You're the best friend I've ever had and the best person I've ever known. You're so amazing and beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful, the way you care about people, the way you're so devoted to your daughter, the way you throw yourself into everything you do with no regard for yourself, just wanting to do what's best for everyone else. I love how loyal, selfless, gentle and strong you are. There's not a single thing I'd change about you, because I think you're perfect just the way you are-"

Steve trailed off, noticing that Danny hadn't blinked in a while. He started panicking, thinking that maybe he'd come on a little too strong. It was probably too late to go back and soften it, but he'd try anyway.

"I'm sorry, Danny, I'm sorry for blurting this all out on you. I just... Aunt Deb and Mary... They said you should know... And I thought... I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

Danny reached over and placed two fingers gently over Steve's lips.

"Steve?" Danny's voice was soft.

"Hm?" It was all he could say without dislodging Danny's fingers, something that stupidly he didn't want to do, as if he could make that touch mean something.

"Could you do something for me?"

Steve nodded.

"Shut up."

Steve could feel his eyes going wide in surprise at Danny's words. He could also feel Danny's fingers start to move slowly over his lips, tracing them softly, making his heart go a million miles a minute. Danny's touch left a tingling sensation on Steve's skin, his fingers now skimming over his jaw, his hand cupping his face. Steve let his eyes fall closed, shutting the entire world out, focusing only on Danny's soft touch. Danny's thumb was now stroking his cheekbone and he felt himself being pulled closer and Danny's warm breath a soft caress over his lips. He let out a shaky breath and briefly wondered if he might be dreaming, but Danny's lips were on his before he could finish the thought.

Steve's body reacted on its own, his mouth kissing Danny back, his arms going around Danny's waist and pulling him as close as possible. Danny moaned against his lips and Steve felt his entire body turn into jelly. Well, most of his body, aside from one part which was doing the exact opposite. Danny's hands were now on his neck, pulling their faces closer together, Danny's tongue moving inside his mouth and it was Steve's turn to moan despite himself. Not that he wanted to hold anything back, this was Danny and he already owned Steve's entire being, there was no point denying him anything now. Danny's hands kept moving, sliding into his hair, tugging it, his nails scraping his scalp, making Steve shiver. Danny's tongue moved further into Steve's mouth, tangling with his, searching and tasting and examining every inch of Steve and that was slowly driving him crazy. Steve felt as though he was about to burst and he started grabbing Danny's t-shirt, fingers kneading his back, moving up and down, wanting to feel all of Danny. They kept grabbing and tasting for a long time, until Danny slowly started to pull away. Steve reluctantly let him go, but he kept his arms around Danny's waist and Danny's hands were still resting on his neck. They rested their foreheads together, Danny's harsh breaths washing over Steve's swollen lips. It was a while before either of them had the strength to speak again.

"Fuck, Steve," Danny breathed out with a shudder. "What took you so long?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Fuck, Steve. What took you so long?"

Steve's mind was still hazy, overwhelmed with everything he'd just experienced. He'd been so scared, already steeling himself to get a negative response from Danny. He hadn't allowed himself to think that things could turn out well, too scared of how much it'd hurt when his expectations ended up being crushed. Even if he had allowed himself to consider that Danny might be interested, he'd never, ever, have expected for things to get so intense. Sure, he'd been attracted to Danny for a very long time and of course he'd fantasized and he'd frequently allow his mind to run wild and construct the best scenarios, but nothing came even close to what had actually happened. The feel of Danny in his arms, their mouths glued together with so much heat... it had blown him away. He could hardly wait for everything he hoped with all his heart were yet to come.

Still, there were enough functioning brain cells left in his brain that allowed him to process what Danny had said.

"Me?" Steve said filled with indignation, putting some distance between them so he could look Danny in the eyes.

Danny looked dazed, as if he were still trying to come to terms with what had just happened himself. "Huh?" He sounded confused.

"How are you turning this back on me?"

"What are you talking about, Steve?"

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but that kiss didn't feel like this idea was new to you. Quite the contrary, actually."

"So?"

"So you don't deny that you had considered us being together before?"

"I, uh..." Danny wasn't looking Steve in the eye anymore.

"Danny?" Steve put a demanding tone in his voice.

"No, okay, I won't deny it."

"So why didn't _you_ say something before?"

"Because I..."

"What, Danny?"

"I didn't think you'd be... I never thought..."

"Exactly."

Steve leaned in to kiss Danny again, but Danny stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What?"

"Are you calling me a coward?"

"I don't know. Are you calling _me_ a coward?"

"That's what you were implying, wasn't it?"

"No, Daniel, I was just trying to make a point."

Danny looked at him suspiciously. "What point?"

"That we're both huge idiots and no one should be pointing any fingers."

Steve leaned in again and Danny stopped him again.

"That's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Steve sighed, starting to get impatient. Seriously, now that he knew for certain what he'd been missing, the idea of doing anything else instead of that bordered on cruel.

"I had more to lose." Danny had the nerve to look as if what he'd just said made any sense.

"What?" Steve's tone was full of indignation again.

"I did."

"How do you figure?" Honestly, that man. Why was Steve in love with him again?

"Well, I..."

"Yes?"

"Well, for starters, I'm all alone here."

"Oh, sure, because I have an entire support system around me."

"Well, no, but..."

"But?"

"This is your home, you were raised here. I'll always be an outsider, you know that."

"No, I don't know that. You know damn well it all changed for both of us when we started Five-0."

"Well, yeah..."

"So your point is?"

"Look, all I'm trying to say is that you're too important to me. I couldn't risk losing you."

"Yeah, because me running that risk was easy."

"Steve..." Danny's voice had gone all soft.

"What?"

"You could never lose me. Nothing you could ever do would make me want to turn my back on you."

Steve melted a little at that and they both started to lean in.

"Wait." Now it was Steve's turn to stop Danny.

"What?" Danny sounded confused again.

"You're saying that you think that _I'd_ turn my back on you?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I'm just saying that I was scared, okay? And that I love you too much to risk losing you no matter the cause, be it something either I or you did."

"So now you're saying that you don't think I love you enough?"

"Oh, god, that was so _not_ what I said."

"Well, it sounded like it to me."

"That's because you're choosing to be all sensitive about this."

"I'm not being sensitive."

"Look, Steve, I know you've had a rough couple of days-"

"Do not bring that into this."

"I'm just saying-"

"Well, don't."

"Fine."

They both huffed and looked away from each other, crossing their arms over their chests in mirrored positions. A while later Steve could see Danny glancing over at him.

"Steve?"

"What?" Steve tried to sound mad but all the annoyance was already starting to leave him.

"You really want to waste time arguing when there's a lot more pleasurable activities we could be engaging on at the moment?"

Steve turned to look at Danny and the heat in his eyes made something burn inside Steve.

"No," Steve said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Didn't think so."

They both leaned in at the same time and the kiss got heated almost the second their lips touched. This time it was Steve who had his hands buried in Danny's hair, pulling him closer and grabbing, just a thread away from using too much force. That didn't seem to bother Danny in the least, on the contrary, it seemed to be driving him insane, which only spurred Steve on. Danny was kissing him with such intensity and drive, making the most obscene noises, and Steve had never felt more wanted in his entire life.

Danny had wasted no time getting his hands under Steve's shirt, and he was now scraping Steve's back with his blunt nails, all the way from his shoulders down to his waist. The scratching was bordering on painful, and that made Steve so hard it hurt. Apparently they both had a thing for a little bit of pain, and Steve was fine with that.

Getting his mouth away from Danny's made him ache, but there was way too much fabric between them and he had to do something about it. He took off his shirt, almost ripping it in his haste, and when he looked Danny was already doing the same. Before Steve could move back, Danny had latched his mouth on his neck and was sucking hard, just shy of enough to bruise. He let his head fall back, giving Danny more access, a deep moan escaping his throat. Steve didn't want to move for anything, but the way they had been sitting on the couch was keeping them too far apart, and he had to get them horizontal. He pushed Danny backwards to get him to lie down, but Danny stopped him.

"No." Danny was breathless, flushed, lips swollen and mouth slightly slack and god, he was gorgeous.

"What, what's wrong?"

"This couch is nowhere near big enough for us both, and I really want to be comfortable for this."

Steve had Danny's hand in his and was pulling him towards the stairs in half a second. They got to the bedroom, Danny moving towards the bed and pulling Steve with him, but Steve stopped Danny with a hand on his chest.

"What?"

"I have a 'no pants' rule."

"What?"

"I'm establishing at this very moment a rule that says that you're never allowed in my bed unless you're not wearing any pants."

Danny's smile, that said that Steve was his favorite goof, made Steve's heart skip a beat.

"Fine. But I'm only getting behind this if the rule includes you."

"No arguments from me."

In a matter of seconds they were pantless, sockless and since they were on the business of getting clothes off, their underwear followed everything else. Steve dragged Danny to the bed and pushed him down, falling on top of him. He was the one sucking on Danny's neck now, tasting and breathing him in, and god, wasn't that something.

"Fuck, Danny, you feel so fucking good." Steve was breathing hard, his heart wild in his chest, the sensation of having Danny underneath him overwhelming. "Anything I've ever imagined," Steve said between bites and licks, "doesn't even come close to what it feels like to be here with you."

Danny was moaning and writhing under him and that only made everything Steve was feeling even more intense. Their bodies were moving in sync, both of them trying to keep as much flesh in contact as possible at all times. They were grinding and rubbing against each other and Steve felt electrified.

"I could say the same about you, babe." Danny was panting, voice coming out with effort.

Steve nibbled at Danny's neck a little more, then moved to kiss him, deep, hard. He pulled back after a while and stared into Danny's eyes intently.

"What do you want, Danny?"

Danny swallowed hard, full blown blue eyes staring back at him with so much heat Steve could feel it on his skin. "I want you to fuck me."

Steve felt a shiver run over his entire body and even more blood ran south. It was Steve's turn to swallow hard now. "Are you sure?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay." Steve let out a breath, trying to get himself under control. It didn't really work.

Steve moved over to reach his bedside table, looking for supplies. He came back with a half-used bottle of lube and an unopened pack of condoms.

"Someone's been active," Danny said eyeing the bottle of lube.

Steve was confused for a while, then saw what Danny was looking at. "Oh, no. This has been for private entertainment only."

"You expect me to believe you haven't been with anyone since you got here?"

"Danny, you live with me. When did you ever see me bring someone home?"

"Never, but I don't know, you have your stealth ninja skills, you could've sneaked someone in."

"Sneak someone in? Why would I... Doesn't matter, I haven't. In fact I haven't been with anyone since before I met you."

"Aw, were you so into me that you didn't want to be with anyone else?"

Steve could feel himself blushing at that. He knew that Danny was joking, but it was the truth nonetheless.

"Yeah, actually," Steve said trying not to sound too embarrassed.

"Oh." Danny looked surprise. "Okay."

Steve was avoiding Danny's eyes now.

"Hey." Danny nudged his arm and Steve looked at him. "I, uh..." Danny cleared his throat. "Me, too."

The hugest smile spread over Steve's face. It's not that he was expecting Danny to say that, but it was still great to hear it. Steve leaned in and kissed Danny, who responded eagerly. It was still hard to believe that Danny wanted him that much. He kissed Danny harder and rocked his hips, making Danny moan wantonly in his mouth. He nuzzled Danny's jaw and murmured in his ear, all the while grinding against him.

"God, Danny, you're so hot, it's unbelievable." Steve was panting, his voice coming out between harsh breaths, but he still had to get that all out of his chest, if for no other reason than to help him believe it was all real. "I've wanted you for so long. I can't believe we've wanted each other all this time and we didn't know."

"I know, we're both idiots." Danny was holding Steve close, his arms around his back, a firm grip on his hard muscles. His hips were moving against Steve's in a nonstop motion and everything that came out of his mouth was in between moans.

"I really wish you'd said something," Steve said, moving to kiss Danny again, but he was stopped before he could lean in, Danny's face turned serious.

"You're joking, right?"

"What?"

"I can't believe you're bringing this up again."

"What? I'm just saying-"

"You were gonna say that it was my fault it took so long again."

"I've never said that."

"Well, all _I'm_ saying is that if you keep bringing this up you're gonna perpetually ruin the moment."

Steve glanced down and saw that Danny was still considerably hard.

"I don't think I'm ruining anything, Danny." Steve knew he looked smug, but he couldn't help it.

"Yeah, well, that's just because you're ridiculously hot and I really, really want you. But if you keep- What? What's with the face?"

"Nothing, it's just... I just liked hearing you say that."

"Say what?"

"That you want me."

"Yes, Steven, I want you. I want you, I need you, I ache for you. Now could you please get a move on and fuck me already!"

"There's really no need to get so aggressive, Danno."

"Steve, I swear to god, if you- Oh, fuck!"

Steve pushed one finger inside Danny, the other man apparently too distracted with his tirade to notice that Steve was preparing for that.

"Oh, god, Steve..." Danny was writhing and moaning again, previous argument apparently forgotten.

"You were saying?"

"Nothing. I wasn't saying anything. Just please keep doing that."

Steve soon had another finger inside Danny, and then another. He was enjoying watching Danny start to lose it, getting desperate for him.

"God, Steve, please, I'm ready."

"I don't want to hurt you, Danny."

"Well, you are hurting me. You're hurting my patience. Will you please, please..."

"Yes, sir." Steve smiled, getting weirdly turned on by the way Danny was getting all riled up while in bed with him.

Steve removed his fingers, grabbed the condoms and started ripping open a condom wrapper. Danny put a hand on his arm and stilled his movements.

"What?" Steve sighed, getting impatient again.

"Uh, you really haven't been with anyone for so long?"

"No, of course not. Why would I lie to you?"

"And I don't suppose you got tested recently?"

"I did, actually. There was this incident with a ruptured condom, so I got tested a few months ago."

"I take it you're clean?"

"Yeah."

"Steve, do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. I trust you with my life, literary, every day."

"And would you believe me if I told you I'm a hundred percent positive I'm clean, too?"

"Yeah, I would." Steve stared at Danny for a while. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yeah." Danny had a hopeful look in his eyes. "I mean, it's up to you, really. I just... I really want to feel you, Steve."

Steve took a deep, shaky breath, overwhelmed with the idea of being inside Danny with nothing between them, the thought turning him on too much for words.

"Okay," Steve said putting the condom away. He got some of the lube and spread it over himself. He stopped to look at Danny, who looked as turned on as he felt. "Danny, are you sure-"

"For fuck's sake, Steve, just do it already!"

"Alright, alright, just checking, Jesus."

Steve pulled Danny's knees up and Danny opened his legs wider to give Steve more room. Steve aligned himself and gently started pushing in. He felt Danny let out a deep breath and relax, and he went in smoothly, slowly, until he was all the way in, drawing out a deep moan from both of them. Steve was overcome with emotions and feelings; finally being able to have the man he loved and had pined for for months surrounding him like that, so open and welcoming. The look in Danny's eyes was filled with affection and desire and Steve felt a slow fire burn inside him, part lust and part pure fondness for the man who completely owned his heart. After waiting for Danny to get accustomed to him, Steve started moving, pulling back and in again, gentle and determined at the same time. Danny had closed his eyes and had his back arched, an almost constant humming sound at the back of his throat, his head turning from side to side as he moved beneath Steve. Steve was increasing his rhythm, getting lost in Danny's movements and sounds, his whole body trembling softly.

Danny opened his eyes and gazed into Steve's. Steve felt even more naked, as if Danny could see all of him and Steve was willing to let him, wanting him to have it all.

"C'mere, babe." Danny pulled Steve in, his hand behind his neck, and kissed him, tender and loving, making Steve melt. He wrapped his arms around Steve and held him close, tight, his fingers kneading Steve's flesh. Steve never stopped thrusting, trying to go deeper every time, and Danny dragged his hands all the way down Steve's back, grabbing his ass, pulling him in and pushing against him at the same time. Steve couldn't help the needy groan that left his throat and Danny kept pushing and pushing, rocking his hips to change the angle of Steve's strokes and Steve went with him, meeting him every time, Danny's moans getting downright obscene every time he got Steve to thrust against his prostate. Steve was slowly going insane, the rest of the world dissolving around him, Danny all he could feel, so desperate for him, eager and unrestrained, willing to give Steve everything as much as Steve was to Danny. Steve let go of Danny's lips and moved to mouth at his neck, enjoying the feel of Danny, biting, licking, sucking him.

"God, Steve," Danny said elongating the words, voice filled with want and pleasure while he writhed in a way that made his whole body rub against Steve's over and over making Steve even more aroused. Danny still had one hand on Steve's ass and the other was in his hair, pulling him close. "You feel so amazing, you're driving me crazy."

" _You're_ driving me crazy, Danny, you have no idea," Steve murmured into Danny's ear and felt him shiver.

"Just promise me you'll never stop fucking me."

Steve laughed, wishing he could make that promise. He intensified his thrusts and moved to kiss Danny again, Danny kissing him back, hungry and dirty.

Steve lost track of time, feeling as if they'd been there for hours, wanting to prolong that moment as much as possible. He knew he had Danny now, that this would happen again, but he felt like he was making up for lost time and he needed to give Danny all that he could. He kissed him, nipped on his lips, bit his neck, dragged his hands down his sides, one going down further and grabbing his thigh, pulling him closer, making Danny moan and mumble incoherently.

"God... Steve... Fuck, this is..."

Steve wanted to respond and tease, but his thoughts were pretty incoherent, too, so he just wrapped one hand around Danny's cock and shuddered when he cried out.

"Fuck, Steve..." Danny arched his back and panted as Steve stroked him, long and hard. "Oh, god... Fuck, I'm gonna come..."

"Come for me, Danny. I want to feel your cum all over me."

"Oh, fuck." Danny shuddered, his body spasming, and spurted all over Steve's hand and their chests, his nails digging hard on Steve's back. The combination of those feelings, the delicious sounds Danny was making and the tightening around Steve made him come after just a few more thrusts. He cried out, his whole body shuddering and trembling while wave after wave of pleasure washed over him. His body gave out and he collapsed on top of Danny, trying to regain his breath.

"Hey, babe," Danny started after a while, his breathing getting back to normal. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but you're kinda heavy." Danny nudged Steve's side.

"Sorry." Steve rolled over and pulled Danny with him, wrapping his arms around him, one leg pulling Danny even closer. Steve was delighted to feel Danny put an arm around him and snuggle closer. Danny tucked his head in the crook of Steve's neck and Steve rested his chin on Danny's head, still breathing deep.

"God, Steve, that was... I don't even know, I have no words."

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day when you didn't know what to say."

"Shut up, you jerk, I'm trying to have a moment here." Danny slapped Steve's back lightly.

"You have a very funny way of showing affection, you know." Steve laughed.

Danny pulled his head back. "Steve, I swear, you're-"

Steve claimed Danny's lips cutting him off, trying to infuse all the love he was feeling into the kiss and was happy to hear the pleased sigh that Danny let out. They kissed for a long time, hands running up and down backs, pulling each other closer. When they finally let go, they barely pulled back, noses still bumping, breath still mingling.

"Thank you," Danny said.

"For what?"

"For everything you said. And for not giving up on me."

"I'd never give up on you, Danno."

"I mean right at the beginning. I was pretty hard on you, and even though I had all the reason in the world for that..."

"Of course you did," Steve interrupted.

"Shush, you. You know I was right."

"Uh-huh."

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I wasn't nice to you, but you kept coming back. And I just... If you'd given up on me, I'd have lost so much, without even realizing it."

"What can I say? You got to me. Right from the start. Even if the only reason I kept coming back was so I could keep winning all the arguments."

"You're such an asshole."

"But you love me anyway."

"Yeah, I do."

Steve smiled and held Danny tighter. He didn't think he'd ever get used to hearing Danny say that.

"You know," Danny continued. "It might have taken me a while longer, but I wouldn't have let you go either."

"What do you mean?"

"If you hadn't asked me to form Five-0 with you, if you hadn't come to help me after I left the hospital, I would've found a way to keep you close."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. What can I say? I guess you got to me, too."

"That's me. Charming and entrancing."

"Yeah, don't ruin it, okay? I'm not so far gone that I'll let you get away with stuff like that."

"Yeah, you are."

Steve kissed Danny again before he could respond, sure that more name-calling was coming his way. He only let go when he was sure he'd distracted Danny enough.

"Now, I believe somebody was making me dinner," Steve said, his rumbling stomach reminding him that he'd asked Danny to talk mid-cooking.

"You know, I would tell you where to shove it and just go to sleep, but it's against my nature to let good food go to waste."

"You can say that, but I know you just love to serve me."

"Steven, if you don't want to sleep alone tonight, you'll shut your mouth-hole before I shut it for you."

"Mm, depending on how you're planning to do that, I think I'll let you do it for me."

Danny grumbled something under his breath, got up and went to the bathroom.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," Steve yelled after Danny. He couldn't help the stupid grin that he knew was all over his face.

"How about you just shut up and get in the shower, huh? You don't want me to spoil what has so far been a great evening by saying what I'm thinking right now."

Steve laughed and followed Danny to the bathroom.

xXxXx

Danny woke up to the feeling of something heavy sprawled over his back and moisture on his shoulder. It took him a while to place it, but when he did, memories of the previous night swarmed his mind and a huge smile spread over his face that made his cheeks hurt.

"Steve," Danny called. No response. "Steven." No response again. "Steve!"

"Hmmm," Steve mumbled, voice muffled since Steve's mouth was still pressed against Danny's shoulder.

"You're drooling all over me."

"I don't drool," Steve mumbled again, voice still thick with sleep.

"Oh, no? Then what's that on my back? Dew?"

"Mmm," Steve mumbled again, snuggling closer, apparently not caring a single bit about what Danny was saying.

"Why do you have to sleep on top of me anyway?" Danny craned his neck as much as he could, grumbling. "The other half of the bed – the other _empty_ half of the bed – not good enough for you?"

"You feel good."

"Well, you don't. My shoulder is cramping. Get off me."

"I'm comfy here, Danno."

"Steven, I swear to god, if you don't get off me right now-"

"Fine, fine, okay." Steve moved sluggishly to his side of the bed. "You complain too much, has anyone ever told you that?"

"Yes, you, all the time." Danny turned over to face Steve, rolling his shoulder to get the circulation back on it. When his eyes focused on Steve, he saw the goofiest expression on the other man's face, his eyes intent on him. "What? What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Nothing." Steve moved forward, took hold of Danny's shoulder and started massaging it, the goofy smile still on his face. "I just can't believe I'm finally waking up with you in bed with me."

Danny felt his insides melt at that, and couldn't help the sigh that left his throat because the massage on his shoulder felt wonderful.

"I know. It's amazing how blind we both were. It's a good thing we don't have to read people for a living."

"I guess it's harder to notice the things that are right in your face."

Steve ran his hand down Danny's back, probably realizing that the cramp was gone, because Danny couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so relaxed. Steve wrapped his arm around Danny's waist and pulled him closer. Danny went more than willingly, already missing Steve's warmth. Steve nuzzled Danny's neck, breathing him in, kissing and nipping. Danny slid his fingers up Steve's hair, wanting to keep him exactly where he was.

"God, I still can't get over how good you feel." Steve's voice was muffled, his mouth still busy exploring Danny's neck.

"Mm, right back at you."

Danny was already losing the ability to form thoughts, the heady feeling of Steve half on top of him overwhelming him. Steve moved so his body would cover Danny's entirely and he rocked his hips against Danny's, their erections rubbing together, and Danny couldn't help the needy moan that came out of him. The sound seemed to have spurred Steve on, the bites on Danny's neck and shoulder getting harder, the movements of Steve's hips getting more determined.

"Steve," Danny breathed, his nails digging into Steve's back, his hips moving upwards involuntarily to increase friction. "Steve, we need- Oh, god." Danny was trying hard to keep his wits about him, something important he had to say although it was getting more and more difficult to remember what it was.

"What? We need what?" Steve was moving to bite and lick the other side of Danny's neck, his hand now grabbing Danny's ass, pulling him even closer.

"Ah, fuck." Danny's eyes were screwed shut, Steve all he could feel. Holding him, biting, licking, thrusting. "No, Steve, we can't... We need to-"

"We need to fuck, that's what we need."

"Oh, Jesus." Danny was already trembling, hard and leaking, Steve driving him completely out of his mind. "No, babe, we need to go to work."

Steve lifted his head and looked at Danny, seeming to be considering his words.

"Nah, I think fucking is more important." Steve leaned back in and resumed his work on Danny's neck.

"Really, Steve, we're gonna be late."

"We're the bosses, Danno," Steve mumbled between kisses. "We decide if we're late or not."

"No, I'm serious, we need to shower and-"

"Why didn't you say so before? We can shower and fuck at the same time."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"But it's true, we can. I'm a multi-tasker." Steve grabbed Danny's hand and pulled him out of the bed.

xXxXx

Danny and Steve got to the office, just like it was any other day. As soon as they entered the double glass doors, Kono turned to say hi and stopped short, staring at them.

"What?" Steve asked.

"There's something different about you guys." Kono's eyes were narrowed, like she was trying to figure something out.

Catherine and Lori joined her.

"Yeah, you're right," Cath added. "They look..."

"Relaxed," Lori finished.

Lou and Chin had joined them by now. Steve and Danny were all of a sudden under the scrutiny of five pair of staring eyes.

"Huh," Lou started after a few moments. "The way they're standing next to each other, it's..."

"Yeah, they're standing closer to each other," Cath chimed in.

"But not like they usually do, all coiled up." Kono still had her eyes narrowed.

"No, you're right." Lori was moving closer to them, inspecting them. Steve was beginning to get uneasy. "There's no tension like normal, as if they want to be close but can't. They're all..."

"Comfortable," Cath finished.

Kono drew in a sharp breath. "You slept together!"

"What?" Danny and Steve said in unison, turning to look at each other. There was a slightly panicked look on Danny's eyes and Steve was sure he looked the same.

"We didn't!" Steve tried, already knowing that it was futile.

"Of course you did," Cath said with certainty.

"Oh, it's so obvious now," Lori added.

"I gotta say, guys," Lou started. "I'm actually impressed. I thought it was gonna take a lot longer for you two chickens to make it happen."

"Well, I'm glad you did, because it means I won the bet," Kono said happily.

"No, you didn't," Lori interrupted. "We had the same date."

"Oh, right."

"You guys were betting on us?" Steve was outraged.

"Of course!" Kono grinned. "Watching you guys dancing around each other was hilarious, if slightly pitiful at times. I wanted to bang your heads together, you were so oblivious."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Steve," Cath said. "I lost the bet a month ago. I thought you were gonna make a move a lot faster. So much for being Smooth Dog."

"Smooth Dog?" Danny turned to Steve, amusement and a small note of derision in his tone.

Steve glanced from Danny to Cath to Danny again, feeling quite flustered not to mention annoyed. "It was my nickname in the Navy. Which no one was supposed to know." He glared at Catherine.

Danny laughed. "Okay, this is a story I need to hear."

Steve glared at Catherine again. "Were you involved in this, too, Chin?" Steve turned to the older man who had remained quiet and a bit separated from the others this whole time.

"No, I had nothing to do with this. I figured your private lives don't concern me."

"What?" Kono turned sharply to him. "You started it."

"No, I didn't. _You_ ," Chin said, pointing to all the others. "Were discussing their mutual feelings as you always do and all I did was say 'I wonder how long it's going to take for them to do something about it', which was a completely rhetorical and innocuous question, and then you guys started throwing dates and amounts of money around."

"Anyway, going back to what matters." Lori turned to Steve and Danny. "Who started it?"

"What do you care?" Steve didn't know if he was more angry or embarrassed to have his private life exposed like that.

"Well, I bet it would be Danny, and Kono said it would be you, so we have to know who it was to know who won the bet."

"You guys are unbelievable..." Steve muttered under his breath.

"Just tell us already," Kono said impatiently. "Who did it?"

"It was kinda mutual," Danny contributed, having stayed uncharacteristically quiet during this whole discussion. "I guess you both win."

"Mutual?" Steve turned to look at Danny, affronted.

"Yeah."

"How was it mutual, Danny?"

"Mutual, as in it involved both of us. You really should work on improving your vocabulary, Steve."

"I know what the word means. What I don't know is how you could possibly think it applies to this situation."

"Well, it does."

"No, it doesn't. I completely put myself on the line and you have the nerve to imply that you somehow had something to do with it."

"I did. I'm the one who kissed you."

"Yeah, _after_ you already knew that I wanted you to."

"It still involved me."

"God, that's so typical of you."

"How, Steven? How's this typical of me? When have we ever been in a situation like this?"

"It's just very you to say things are my fault when it's something bad and try to take the credit when it's something good."

"I do not do that. I have never, not once, done that."

"Oh, no? You're doing it right now."

Steve heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and felt heat rise up on his face upon remembering that they weren't alone.

"Uh, right. Not important. What's important is that you all crossed a line and invaded our privacy."

"Sure, boss, whatever. Just tell us who it was already." Kono pressured.

"Fine, it was Steve." Danny admitted begrudgingly.

"Yes!" Kono celebrated. "Right, all of you, cough it up." She opened her hand palms up, waiting for the cash.

Steve still felt stunned, violated, infuriated, but most of all confused, because Danny seemed to be accepting it all too well. He turned to look at him. "Why aren't you saying anything about all this? I would've expected a mile long rant by now."

Danny just shrugged.

"What? It doesn't bother you that they were doing all this behind our backs?"

"Just let it go, babe."

"What do you mean, let it go? How can you be so calm about this?"

"Didn't you hear?" Danny had a glint in his eyes. "I had sex last night. And this morning. Great sex, I might add – don't let it go to your head, though, smugness is not an attractive quality." Danny pointed a finger at Steve. "Anyway, I'm relaxed." He winked at Steve and turned to go to his office.

Steve stared at Danny in shock for a long time, then turned to look at the others, still dumbfounded.

"Alright." Kono rubbed her hands together. "Who wants to bet how long it takes until the marriage proposal comes in?"

"I bet Danny's the one who pops the question," Lori said.

"Haven't you learned anything, Lori?" Kono asked. "Danny is never gonna make any kind of move."

"That's where you're mistaken, Kono. You think he's ever gonna let Steve one-up him like that? He's gonna do anything to outdo him now."

"Huh." Kono looked as if she was considering what Lori had said.

Steve shook his head, torn between offense and amusement, laughed and turned to go to his office.


	8. Chapter 8

It was later that same day and the whole team was holed up in their offices. Like Chin had said, they'd already wrapped up the case, so now all that was left was the paperwork. Steve hadn't been involved in the case and he didn't have any reports to write, so he spent the day doing other things, like catching up with all the very entertaining official phone calls he'd missed while he'd been away. Danny couldn't do much, but he helped the rest of the team with their reports, the parts that involved the beginning of the case, when he'd still been with them.

Steve had the blinds to his office down, and he'd been in there for over an hour. Danny felt a little sorry for him, knowing how annoying all that official stuff could be. He'd tried to handle as much as possible while Steve had been away, but there were some things only he could deal with. Since the beginning they'd decided that it would be better to divide and conquer, so they'd separated which official business each of them would deal with, thinking it would be less confusing that way. They still shared all the decisions, but the contacts were done separately.

The door to Steve's office opened and he poked his head out.

"Hey, Danny, could you come here a sec? I need to discuss something with you."

"Yeah, sure." Danny was talking to Chin near the tech table, helping him find a way to explain how they'd found the first suspect – let's just say they hadn't exactly followed what could be called 'procedure' – and he excused himself and headed for Steve's office.

"What's up? The governor need something?" Danny asked when he entered, while Steve closed the door behind him.

Next thing Danny knew, Steve had one hand on the back of his neck, the other around his waist and his lips were being crushed while a tongue desperately tried to invade his mouth. He was startled at first, but it took him only a moment to decide that the kiss should come first, he'd think later. He wrapped his arms around Steve and opened up for him, a moan leaving his throat as soon as their tongues slid against one another. They kissed for a long time, holding each other tightly and only one teeny tiny step away from grinding against each other. Danny was unbelievably turned on, his hard-on making his slacks uncomfortably tight. He could feel that Steve wasn't much different.

"Wow, okay," Danny murmured against Steve's lips, slowly pulling away and moving to rest his head in the crook of Steve's neck, trying to catch his breath. "What was that for?"

"I missed you." Steve was nuzzling Danny's hair

"I thought you had something important to discuss."

"Nope, I just really wanted to kiss you."

"Okay," Danny let out a shaky breath. "That was... nice."

"Nice?" Steve pulled away, looking almost offended.

"Really, really, really nice." Danny was still holding Steve tightly, his fists clutching his shirt, because it felt good, but mostly because he thought he wouldn't be able to keep standing up if he let go. He was still dizzy from the kiss and trying to get himself back under control. He was failing. "You know I can't leave here now, right?" There was no way he'd be able to walk by the rest of the team without them noticing the bulge in his pants. Especially if he had to go back to talk to Chin.

"You can let me take care of that for you." Steve's voice was low in Danny's ear, his warm breath making him shiver. Steve's hand had moved down, palming Danny's cock over his pants.

"God, Steve, stop that." Danny tried to sound firm, but his hips had moved against Steve's touch involuntarily.

"Please, Danny, just let me suck you off. You have any idea how good it felt this morning?" Steve was still stroking Danny and his voice in his ear was doing wonderful and not at all appropriate for the work place things to him. "I swear, your cock is the best thing I've ever had in my mouth. And I've had some pretty good things in my mouth."

"Fuck, Steve, what the hell are you trying to do to me?" Danny was trying oh, so very hard to keep from moaning, deep and needy. His whole body was on fire and he wondered if it was possible for his dick to get so hard it exploded.

"Please." Steve sounded desperate, which only made it all even harder, no pun intended. "I really want to."

"No." Danny should receive a medal for the amount of will power it took him to get Steve's hand away from him. "We can't. Not here."

"Why not?"

"What do you mean, why not? The whole team is out there. They'll be able to hear us, and I honestly don't want to have to endure the teasing that will follow if we do this."

"Oh, but I can make it so worth it." Steve tried to move his hand back to Danny's crotch, but Danny held it tighter.

"No." This time Danny did manage to sound firm, god knew how. "But I promise I'll make it worth your while if you keep it together and wait until we get home tonight."

"I don't like waiting."

"Well, tough. You're gonna have to." Danny pried himself away from Steve. "And stop with all the touching. I'll never be able to get rid of this if you keep your grabby hands on me."

"But you love my hands."

"Yeah, well, not in the office, I don't." Danny moved further away, taking deep breaths. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine gruesome dead bodies and dead puppies and kittens, anything to get his erection to go away. He opened his eyes to find that Steve had leaned back over his desk and was now roaming his gaze up and down Danny's body with hungry eyes, biting his lip and palming his own erection. "God, you're such a jerk, you know that?" He turned away to leave and he didn't have to look back to know that the bastard was smirking at him.

When Steve got home three hours later, Danny was already cooking dinner – he'd gone home early, since he didn't have anything left to do at HQ. Steve walked over to Danny and hugged him from behind.

"Hmm, something smells good." Steve nuzzled Danny's neck.

"I'm making pasta Carbonara." Danny turned his head a little to rub his cheek against Steve's.

"No, I meant you." Steve smiled and nibbled at Danny's neck.

"Smooth, Steve." Danny's voice had a mocking tone, but Steve could tell he'd liked it, if nothing else for the soft sigh he let out and the goofy smile on his face.

"Is it gonna take long?" Steve held Danny tighter and turned the nibbling of his neck into biting and sucking.

"What am I, your personal servant? It's gonna take how long it takes, and you're gonna shut up and wait."

"Ooh, feisty." Steve had started rubbing himself against Danny's back.

"You do realize that if you keep rubbing on me like that it's just gonna take longer, right?" Danny's complaint would've sounded a lot more truthful if he hadn't let out a quiet moan and started pushing back against Steve.

"Well, it's just that I remember you promising me something, and I believe I'm going to need you upstairs for that."

"It's going to have to wait until we've eaten."

"You're being very cruel today, Danno."

"Oh, no, I wasn't the one who was being all inappropriate at work."

"It's not my fault if you kept teasing me."

"Teasing you? I was just working around the office."

"Exactly. You were there, very close to me. That's teasing." Steve was hard now, and he was rubbing his cock against Danny's ass.

"God, Steve, will you quit with that? If I burn this I'm just gonna have to start all over again." Danny had his eyes shut and his hands had stilled where he'd been stirring the pot with the sauce.

"I can't help it, Danny. I can't be around you and not touch you."

"You're just gonna have to make an effort. I can't cook with a horny boyfriend attached to my back."

"Hmm, I like that," Steve murmured in Danny's ear, sucking the lobe.

"What?" Danny asked in a shaky breath.

"Boyfriend," Steve whispered, sucking the skin behind Danny's ear.

"Well, if you wanna keep that status, you're gonna let go of me and let me finish here. Why don't you go make yourself useful and set up the table?"

"Fine." Steve detached himself from Danny after placing one last kiss on his neck. "You're lucky I love you. I could be getting very offended with all this rejection." Steve turned away to go get the plates, but he still caught Danny trying to hide the goofy smile that had made its way back to his face.

Danny had spent the entire time they were having dinner trying to get himself back under control. Steve was honestly driving him insane with these constant attacks. He couldn't wait to be done to drag that annoying man up the stairs and fuck the living daylights out of him.

"Okay, we're done." Danny dropped his fork on his plate and grabbed Steve's hand, pulling him up from his chair.

"What, now you can't even wait for me to finish chewing?" Steve asked through a mouthful of pasta.

"No, I can't, and you're the only one to blame, with all the attacking you did today."

Danny could hear Steve laughing behind him while he went up the stairs, and he knew he didn't really give a crap about not finishing his dinner.

"C'mere." Danny pulled Steve down and into a kiss as soon as they got to the bedroom. He pushed Steve's shirt open and over his shoulder, never breaking the kiss. Steve was working on the buttons of his shirt impressively fast, only stopping to let his own fall to the floor. Danny slipped his hands under Steve's t-shirt, feeling the smooth, warm skin under his fingers, pulling Steve closer. When Steve was done with his buttons, Danny took off his shirt and Steve broke the kiss to pull his t-shirt over his head. Steve framed Danny's face with his hands and kissed him harder, biting his lower lip and licking his way inside his mouth. He pushed Danny onto the bed and crawled on top of him, moving to kiss his neck, bite his shoulder, suck on his collarbone and kiss his way down his chest until he reached Danny's pants. He mouthed the soft flesh of Danny's belly right below his navel while he unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks, pulling them down and finally taking them off. Steve was back in a second and he nuzzled the base of Danny's cock. Danny could feel him breathing in deep, and it was amazing how aroused that made him. Steve licked his way up Danny's shaft and swallowed him whole in one swift movement. Danny gasped, already going out of his mind after the onslaught of Steve's warm, wet lips roaming all over his body.

Steve's mouth felt wonderful on him, sucking and licking all the right places, as if he could read Danny's mind and already know exactly what he liked. Danny was trying hard to stay still, but now Steve's hands were on his ass pulling him closer and he couldn't stop himself from fucking Steve's mouth, thrusting up and surprisingly not finding any resistance. He had no idea how Steve was pulling that off, but he wasn't complaining. He'd never been deep-throated like that and he felt himself slipping away, completely overwhelmed with pleasure, afraid it would get so intense it would shatter him into pieces.

"Fuck, Steve..." Danny kept moving his hips up and down, deep moans being ripped out of his throat and he was getting closer and closer to the edge. "God, I'm gonna..."

And all of a sudden Steve had let him go.

"What the fuck?" Danny shot up, staring at Steve, ready to throttle the man.

"No, you're not."

"What the hell's the matter with you? Is this pay back because I didn't let you suck me off before?"

"No, I just can't let you come. If you come, you can't fuck me, and we can't have that now, can we?"

And just like that Danny wasn't mad anymore. He was desperately grabbing Steve, pulling him closer so he could reach his stupid cargo pants which had the nerve to still be covering his body.

"Okay, then, get naked, now!"

Steve laughed, that ridiculous smug grin all over his ridiculous face, but he helped Danny open his pants and pulled them off. Danny tried to pull him down to the bed, but Steve wouldn't budge.

"Nope, I'm staying right here. I want to ride you."

"Jesus fuck, Steve." Danny felt a massive wave of pleasure run through him, so turned on he felt as if his whole body was filled with electricity. "What, are you trying to kill me?"

"No, Danny, I thought we'd already covered that. If you're dead you can't fuck me. Why's that so hard to understand?"

"Will you just shut up and get the fucking lube?"

"I can do that." Steve-the-stupid-bastard leaned over to reach the bedside table and Danny took a deep breath. He wasn't going to last more than a few seconds if he didn't bring his arousal down a notch or two.

Steve had the lube now, but instead of giving it to Danny, he poured some of it on his own fingers. Danny watched in complete and utter awe as Steve started to fuck himself on one, two, then three of his fingers. He had his head thrown back, lips slightly parted as he moved up and down and Danny really thought he was going to die right there and then. Steve moaned as he slowly removed his fingers and he looked down at Danny, a blinding, gut-melting smile on his face and Danny felt something melt and burn inside him, once again captivated by that beautiful man, amazed that he now had him all to himself. Steve smeared lube over Danny's cock, took hold of it and lowered himself onto it, slowly, an expression of pure bliss gracing his features.

"Oh, god, Steve..." Danny felt Steve's heat surrounding him and everything else disappeared. His back arched, he bit his lips but he couldn't contain the desperate, needy sounds that left the back of his throat. "Fuck, babe, you feel so amazing."

Steve didn't say anything, he just started to move up and down, barely giving himself time to adjust, steadily gaining more speed, making the most beautiful, delicious sounds. He had his hands on Danny's chest to keep his balance and Danny ran his hands up and down Steve's thighs, feeling the heavenly slide of strong muscles beneath his hands as Steve moved. Danny started thrusting up, meeting Steve half-way and getting in as deep as he could. Steve was now gripping Danny's chest, breath coming out in short, harsh puffs. He was the most gorgeous sight, all flushed and glistening with sweat, the muscles in his chest and arms flexing with each movement. Danny thought he might be dreaming, and if he was, it was the most beautiful dream he'd ever had.

Danny could see Steve start to lose control, and now he was moving faster, eyes screwed shut, moans getting even deeper.

"God, Danny..." Steve's voice was coming out all strangled in between rough breaths. Danny wrapped his hand around Steve's cock and started stroking firmly, feeling Steve shudder.

"Yeah, that's it. Come for me, babe."

In a matter of seconds Steve was coming all over Danny, crying out wordlessly, clenching hard around Danny and making him see stars. It didn't take long for Danny to follow, he was already having a hard time keeping in control and the sight and feel of Steve coming was just too much for him. With a final thrust and a loud cry of his own, he came inside of Steve and was overcome with a feeling of claiming what was rightfully his. He was still riding his rush when he felt Steve slump over him, tucking his head in the crook of his neck and breathing deep, letting out a contented sigh. Danny wrapped his arms around Steve and pulled him close, kissing his shoulder.

"Come on, babe, roll over." Danny nudged Steve on the side when he felt that Steve might have caught his breath back. "Being all bent in half like that can't be good for you."

Steve pulled himself up with a grunt and slumped to the side, immediately curling up against Danny's side, tangling their legs together. He was running his hand up and down Danny's chest, resting his head on Danny's shoulder.

"Hmm, that was good," Steve said elongating the last word.

"That's one way of putting it." Danny laughed at Steve's massive understatement.

"Okay, it was phenomenal, breathtaking, intoxicating, mind-blowing, life-altering-"

"Okay, enough." Danny laughed again. "That's enough. But also more accurate."

Steve laughed softly and snuggled a bit closer to Danny. "You know, you could move your stuff in here if you wanted." Steve's voice was getting a little slurred from exhaustion.

Danny stopped moving the hand that was on Steve's back and turned to look at him, somewhat confused. Steve propped himself on his elbow and stared right into Danny's eyes.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. I'd really like it if you moved your stuff in here, because I want this to be your room, too."

"You sure about that? Don't you think you might get tired of me?"

"No, Danny, I won't get tired of you. What I am tired of is sleeping alone in here knowing that you're just a few feet away from me. I've had too much of that already."

Danny grinned at Steve. "Okay. I'll do it tomorrow."

Steve beamed at Danny, snuggled back on his shoulder and was soon snoring softly.

Saturday morning they moved all of Danny's things into Steve's bedroom – well, _their_ bedroom – which didn't take long, since Danny didn't really have that much stuff. They spent the rest of the weekend having obscene amounts of sex, interspersed with a few hours dedicated to sleeping, showering and eating. Sadly, Monday morning came all too soon, and they headed together to HQ. At least they hadn't caught any new cases over the weekend.

"Aw, look at them, looking all happy and in love," Catherine said as soon as they entered the boardroom.

"Love," Lou scoffed. "They don't look like that because they're in love. It's because of all the sex they had."

"What was it?" Kono asked. "Nine, ten?"

"Nine, ten what?" Steve asked, confused.

"Times you did it over the weekend."

"You cannot seriously be asking us that," Danny said in disbelief.

"What, I'm curious. That's my job, finding out information."

"Not about us, it's not."

"It's not like I can turn it on and off, guys," Kono said mockingly. "And by the way, any time you want to have sex somewhere close to me where I can hear it, feel entirely free." Her smile was almost obscene.

"What?!" Danny and Steve asked in unison.

"What? I'm not dating anyone. I need to live vicariously through you two."

"That is so very disturbing." Steve saw Danny give him a look that clearly said 'you see what I meant last Friday?', to which Steve just mouthed 'fine'. The 'you were right' part was implied, and Danny clearly got the message judging by the smug expression on his face.

"There's something seriously wrong with you," Steve said pointing a finger at Kono and turning to go into his office. "And if you must know," he started when he got to the door. "It was eleven. I was aiming for an even number, but Danny was 'too tired' this morning," he finished, air quotes and all.

"Steven!" Danny scolded, almost shouting through clenched teeth. "What's the matter with you?"

"What? She wanted to know." Steve shrugged as he walked into his office, the sound of Kono's deep laugh following him.

It was about a month later, and the whole team had gathered at the Hilton to relax after wrapping up a particularly complicated case. Danny was talking to Chin about something or other when he felt Steve's hand on his forearm. He turned around to face him.

"What?"

Danny had barely finished the word before Steve grabbed his face, kissing him hard and deep. He took hold of Steve's arms if only to ground himself a little, Steve's kiss making his body react in the most insane and wonderful ways. This went on for a while and Danny was getting dizzy, not really knowing where he was anymore. When Steve let him go, he blinked a few times and tried to remember how to breathe again.

"Uh, what just happened?" Danny asked when he started coming back to himself.

"I just think that people should know that you're taken," Steve said, sounding weirdly peeved.

"What people?" Danny was confused, still not quite getting it.

"That girl over there." Steve jerked his head minutely to his right. "She was eyeing you a little to intently for my taste."

"Huh?" Danny was still confused, but then he heard Kono from the other side of the table.

"I don't think it worked, boss." The amusement in her voice was evident. "She actually seems even more interested now."

Danny finally turned to look, trying to find the girl they were talking about. There was, in fact, a beautiful young woman staring at him, unmistakable desire in her eyes. Danny couldn't waste this beautiful opportunity to provoke Steve, so he made a show of looking her up and down appreciatively, before turning to Steve.

"I don't know, babe. We could maybe invite her over. Things could get pretty interesting."

" _I don't share."_ Steve had a firm grip on Danny's arm, almost too firm, and his eyes were all fiery and intense.

Danny couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine and he briefly wondered if he should be bothered by how thrilled he felt at all this possessiveness being directed towards him. Ah, who was he kidding? He belonged to Steve and he didn't care who knew it. He saw Steve glance at the woman again and he noticed that she still had her hot gaze aimed at him.

"That's it, we're leaving." Steve got up still holding Danny's arm, not giving him much of a choice but to follow.

"What, you're leaving us with the bill again?" Lou asked.

"No," Danny said firmly and turned to Steve. "If you expect me to put out, you'd better pay our share."

"Why is everyone against me today?" Steve grumbled under his breath.

Danny pulled Steve down a little and whispered in his ear, in a low, seductive tone. "Just pay the bill, and I'll show you exactly how I'm against you. Pressed up against you, rubbing against you, all naked, hard, hot and sweaty." Danny could feel Steve shudder against him.

Steve fished his wallet from his pocket and dropped a fifty dollar bill on the table, which covered approximately three times what they owed.

"Woah," Chin said. "I don't know what you just told him, Danny, but you should definitely say it more often."

"That's very funny," Steve said, not sounding the least bit amused. "Now we're leaving." Steve wound one arm around Danny's shoulders and pulled him close.

They left to choruses of 'bye' and 'have fun'. When they went past the woman, Danny could see Steve glaring daggers at her and holding him even tighter. Danny wasn't complaining.

When they got back home, Danny spent a long time pressing, rubbing, licking, sucking, biting and generally making Steve go all kinds of crazy. They were now lying facing each other, slowly coming down from their high.

"You know, I love it when you take control like that." Steve had his gaze set on Danny, his eyes still a little glazed.

"You do, huh?" Danny moved a little closer and started lightly stroking Steve's arm.

"What, you're not gonna tell me you've never noticed."

"No, of course I've noticed, I'm not blind. Or deaf. I just would never expect you to actually say it out loud."

Steve shrugged. "What would be the point of trying to keep anything from you? You always see right through me."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Not at all. I like that you know me so well. That I can't hide anything from you. It's all so different from how I used to be, you know? You started changing me the moment we met, and you haven't stopped."

"Just don't go changing too much. I like you just fine the way you are now."

"But that's just the thing, isn't it? You just always make it easier for me to be myself. I can't remember the last time I felt like I was being entirely sincere, not holding anything back. There's no one who's ever made me feel so safe that would allow me to do that. Except you."

"I'm glad I can do that. Because the person you really are? He's pretty damn amazing."

Steve smiled, so honest and true and just damn _happy,_ that there was no way Danny could ever doubt anything he'd just said.

"I love you, Danno," Steve sighed, relaxed and content.

"I love you, too. Now can you do me a favor? Can we not have these kind of talks while we're still all hazy from sex? 'Cause then we get all soft and mushy and that's just not right."

"Not making any promises." Steve settled closer to Danny, that goofy look of his making Danny even more inappropriately mushy. "Now let's go to sleep."


	9. Epilogue

_So this is it. I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for reading all the way through, and for every bit of support you've given me. I truly hope this has been an enjoyable experience._

 _I'd love to know what you guys thought of the story as a whole. Leave a comment if you can, even if it's just a few words. Feedback is always deeply appreciated, it helps me improve my writing and get motivated to write more._

 _Mahalo nui loa!_

 _I hope you like the ending. Enjoy! =)_

* * *

 _About 5 years later_

"Steve, Steve, Steve," Danny tried to call, but it was too late, Steve was already going inside.

They were in the middle of an investigation, trying to dismantle a drug ring, and they had just received a tip regarding the location of one of the handlers. Danny and Steve were closer to the address, so they headed there before the others. After doing recon of the area, Steve had reached the conclusion – for some reason that Danny couldn't possibly fathom – that it would be okay to go inside without back-up.

"Fuck," Danny muttered under his breath and went after Steve. It's not like he had a choice now, he couldn't let the crazy bastard go inside on his own.

They went their separate ways when they entered the house to clear all the rooms. When Danny was coming back, he could hear a struggle going on at the other end of the house and he rushed over there, his heart leaping to his throat. Seriously, would it be too hard for that man to keep himself out of trouble for more than five minutes? When he got there, Steve was crouching over a man, a knee on his back, handcuffing him.

"What took you so long, Danno?" Steve was sporting one of his most annoying smug grins, the lopsided one, that made Danny unreasonably angry and strangely turned on.

"There's something seriously wrong with you, you know that? What if there'd been more than one guy, huh? What if he'd had a gun? Did you even stop to think of that? No, of course not, because you _never_ stop to think." Danny was in full-on overly-furious rant mode, which he knew was his way to let out the tension that built inside him every time he felt like Steve could be in danger. It was just easier to deal with that like that than let the worry seep through. He didn't think he could handle it if he had to acknowledge how sick he felt every time he was reminded that he could lose Steve at any moment.

"Relax, Danny, everything's fine. We got the guy, and he's gonna give us all the other names we need, now, won't he?" Steve tugged the handcuffs tighter and pressed his knee harder on the man's back. The man grunted and tried to squirm away, but it was obviously pointless.

They were leaving the house and Danny was slowly getting his breathing under control. He hadn't stopped talking yet, he still had a lot more to say to Steve.

"You're just reckless. You have no regard for your safety, or mine, or anyone else's, for that matter."

"Danny, I had it under control."

"Of course you did. Under whatever passes for control in that freaky SEAL head of yours. What's getting shot if you're used to having IEDs blow up in your face, right?"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating? No one got shot."

"No, I am not exaggerating. There is no exaggeration here. This is just me being someone who doesn't have a death wish. I have a daughter, you know that? And I'd like to be alive to see her grow up."

"Oh, you have a daughter? Really? This is news to me."

"Oh, funny. Now he's trying to be funny."

They were in the car already, suspect safely restrained in the back seat, heading back to HQ.

"Would you just let it go? I'm okay, you're okay, the suspect is okay, everything's fine."

"Yeah, sure, everything is fine. I nearly have a heart attack, but hey, everything is fine now. You're such a jerk, you know that? Honestly, I don't even know why I married you sometimes."

"That's because you love me, Danno."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure of that."

Steve turned to look at him, the smug smile still there, but it now carried a tone of warm fondness that always turned Danny into a pile of goo. "Yeah, you are."

"Asshole," Danny muttered, but he was smiling now.

xXxXx

They were back in HQ ten minutes later, suspect in tow. They were leading him to the interrogation room, when Lori stopped them.

"Don't you guys have somewhere you should be?"

Steve glanced at his watch and turned to Danny. "Shit, we're gonna be late for our flight."

"But what about..."

"Don't worry about it." Chin was coming from his office. "We'll take care of it. Go celebrate."

"You sure?" Steve asked, not entirely happy with the idea of his team having to deal with the case on their own while he went gallivanting with Danny.

"Yes, I'm sure. Come on, guys, this is the one time of the year you give yourselves some time off. Go, have fun, we'll see you on Monday."

Steve still looked unsure, and Danny grabbed his arm and started pulling.

"C'mon, babe, let's go. They got it covered and Chin is right. You know this is something we can't miss."

"Okay, fine, but you call us if you need anything."

"Sure, I promise I won't," Chin said with his kind, calm smile. "Now get your asses outta here."

xXxXx

They made their flight just in time, and the plane took off not five minutes after they had taken their seats. Of course, being Five-0 had its perks as usual, and they'd let them on the plane long after the gate had closed.

"Okay, now you shut up and don't talk to me until we land. I need to sleep," Danny said with his usual delicate attitude.

"Oh, honey, you say the sweetest things."

"Steven, you know if I don't sleep I'm gonna be cranky, and I don't wanna be cranky tomorrow, of all days tomorrow. So just let me sleep."

"Yes, Daniel, I know. I've experienced you cranky enough times to know that I don't want that on our anniversary."

"Exactly." Danny snuggled against the pillow trying to make himself comfortable.

"Don't worry, I'll watch over you." Steve smiled and he still surprised himself by how much he loved this man. He had to be really far gone to still feel all this fondness overcoming him even when Danny was being like that.

"Goof," Danny murmured, already sounding sleepy. But Steve didn't miss the soft smile on his face.

xXxXx

They slept a little more at the hotel, and then headed to the destination they'd chosen to spend their celebration lunch. They were now sitting on the grass, cooler with sandwiches and beer right by their side.

"D'ya think the team would think it too weird that we choose to come here every year on our anniversary?" Danny asked, arranging the bouquet of flowers that he had in his hands.

"No, I think they'd understand. But they would make fun of us for being so sentimental."

"This is not being sentimental, this is showing gratitude. Which I think is very important, especially in this case."

"Couldn't agree more. Now let's start this thing."

Steve opened the bottles of beer while Danny placed the flowers gently by the tombstone.

"Hey, Aunt Deb," Steve started. "So, another year has gone by and here we are." He turned to look at Danny, who was smiling at him, that softness around his eyes that always made something inside him go all gooey. "It's been a good year. Work is tough sometimes, you know that it can be dangerous and we had some pretty complicated stuff happen this year, but we've managed."

"Barely," Danny huffed.

"What?" Steve turns back to look at Danny, mildly annoyed. "Danny, that's not true. You know damn well that even with everything that's happened we've both managed to go through it all pretty much unscathed."

"Ha, right. Listen to this, Aunt Deb, and I know you'll side with me on this. First thing that happens is he gets me shot."

"I didn't... It wasn't my fault."

"Shush, I'm talking here." Danny puts a finger right in front of Steve's face, then turns back to the tombstone. "So, yeah, he gets me shot. Not three months later, he makes me twist my ankle."

"Me? How could I have _made_ you twist your ankle, Danny?"

"Shhh, you're interrupting me. That's very rude. Don't you think it's rude, Aunt Deb? See, she agrees with me."

Steve mutters something not appropriate for a day of celebration when you are close to loved ones under his breath and Danny keeps going.

"Anyway, after that I pull my back while we're-"

"Hey! Don't tell her that."

"Why not?"

"She's my aunt. We're not talking about _that_ with her."

"Fine, whatever, it's not important how it happened. But you have to conceded that that one was undoubtedly your fault."

"Yeah, fine, that time it was. _Only_ that time. But I apologized _and_ made it up to you when you had healed."

"Never said you didn't. But you see, Aunt Deb, you see what I have to deal with here? I gotta tell you, this nephew of yours, he's a menace. How I'm still in one piece baffles me."

"Well, yeah, maybe you do get hurt a lot. But – as I'm sure you've noticed, Deb – this guy, he will not stop complaining a single second. So maybe I am a bit of a thrill seeker-" Danny scoffed at that and Steve glared at him, "but I have to be to let off some of the stress that comes from dealing with the constant moaning."

"You never complain when I moan." Danny's voice got all sexy and he was leaning seductively towards Steve.

"Danny! Not in front of her!"

"Well, maybe she should know. This is a very important and enjoyable part of our relationship, so maybe she should take some credit for that, too."

"No, no, we are not going there."

"Fine, I'm not saying anything else." Danny turned back to the tombstone and whispered. "But I still think you deserve the credit." He winked.

"Okay, now, can we stop fighting in front of her? She's gonna start thinking that she was wrong about us."

"Steve, her knowledge is all encompassing now. She knows we're happy, she knows how much I love you and how much you love me and she knows that getting together was the best thing that ever happened to both of us. Well, actually, second best thing. You know I can't put you above Grace."

"Yes, Danny, I know. Would never expect you to."

"But you, my friend, are a close second. Very close second. So close, in fact, that you can barely see the distance."

Steve knew he had a silly smile on his face, but he couldn't help it. If he sometimes still surprised himself by how much he loved Danny, he was always even more surprised by how much Danny loved _him._

"Oh, god, you're such a sappy goof. C'mere." Danny pulled Steve into a kiss, a soft, gentle, loving kiss that made Steve melt. The kiss went on for a while, and when Danny pulled back Steve didn't want it to end. "See? Now she's seen it. She knows."

Steve just hmmed and rested his forehead on Danny's, lightly stroking his cheek with his fingers, enjoying the moment. He sighed and pulled back then started talking to Aunt Deb again.

"Anyway, speaking of Grace, she got a boyfriend this year."

"No, no, she did not get a boyfriend. She was just moderately infatuated with a boy for a barely noticeable period of time."

"She got a boyfriend," Steve kept speaking as if Danny hadn't said anything. "And Overprotective Daddy over here _followed_ them on their first date."

"Now, Steve, you're being very unfair. I did not follow them, I was merely looking for my daughter, who'd gone MIA."

"Danny, you tracked her cell phone."

"She'd lied to me! She wasn't where she said she would be. What if something bad had happened, huh? It was my duty as a father _and_ as a cop to make sure she was okay."

"Sure, if telling yourself that makes you feel any better about _stalking_ your child."

"I was not stalking, Steven, that was not stalking. It wasn't my fault if when I finally found her I saw her with that slimy, despicable kid, and she needed me there, because he was all over her, in a very inappropriate way."

"They were holding hands!"

"That's what you chose to see. I, who am trained to observe this sort of thing, saw the _look_ in that boy's eyes, and I knew he was up to no good."

"Oh, lord. Thankfully, Deb, I was there with him, and was able to make him see sense and backtrack before he went to confront – his words – the poor little kid."

"Poor little kid," Danny scoffed. "The only reason I agreed to leave was because I didn't want to subject my little girl to a scene."

"No, that's not what happened. What, you think I don't know you? You think I didn't see that look in your eyes when you finally realized – after a very long talk – that she was actually happy and having fun and you – very wisely – decided to let her grow up a little?"

Danny muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I'm just saying that if something ever happens to her because I was too careless and let her spend time with that... that..." Danny waved his hand around, for once not finding the perfect word – or ten – to say what he wanted. "I'm blaming you."

"And I will fully accept the blame. Whack-job," Steve added the last word in a barely audible whisper.

"I heard that."

"Good, you were supposed to. So, getting back on track. We're taking Mary out for dinner tonight, as usual. She's making us take her to Providence. I'm starting to think that she's taking advantage of our softness regarding this particular circumstance."

"You're starting to think? I've been completely sure of that since our first anniversary."

"Yeah, well, it's not like she doesn't deserve it. We'd take you, too, if we could. None of this would have happened without you two, and we both couldn't be more grateful."

"Hear, hear."

"And right after that, we're going up north for the weekend, because, yes, you guessed it... Danno, the weirdo wants some snow. Can you believe it? The guy lives in Hawaii, and he wants snow."

"And what's wrong with that, Steven? I live in constant summer. All year round. Every day. I mean every single day. Is it too much to ask to have a bit of cold? Just a little bit, for a mere two days of the year? Huh? Huh?"

"If you want snow so much, why can't we just go to Mauna Kea? It would be a whole lot cheaper, and you could even do it more often."

"Oh, okay, forgive me if I don't want to go back to the place where we were trapped for _hours_ and I almost died."

"Oh, dear god, you didn't almost die. Do you always have to be so dramatic? Is that entirely necessary?"

"I'm not being dramatic, I just value my life, alright?"

"Well, I value your life, too, and I know you weren't in any danger."

"Whatever."

"Can we get back to this? Please?"

"Yes, Steve. Go ahead."

Steve took a deep breath and faced the stone again.

"I miss you, Aunt Deb. And I wish you could have met Danny and Gracie. I wish you could see this beautiful family I have now. I know you would've been proud, and I know you would've been happy that you somehow had a hand in this, that what you couldn't live yourself was passed on, in a way. That I'm happy now, happier than I've ever been in my entire life, because you talked some sense into me. I promise I'll try never to be that stupid again." Steve grabbed the bottles he'd set aside and handed one to Danny. "Thank you, Aunt Deb. I love you."

They clinked their bottles against the stone and then against each other's. After taking a sip, Steve gazed into Danny's loving eyes and leaned in for a kiss, hoping they'd be coming back to that place until the day he could see his aunt again.


End file.
